Sergei Lavrov

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu asked Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to end the military operation in Ukraine during a phone call on Feb. 26, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Ankara has repeatedly called the Russian invasion of Ukraine "unacceptable".

"Bulgaria strongly supports tough sanctions in response to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, including sanctions against the Security Council of the Russian Federation and President Putin."

The European Union will block assets, including bank accounts, of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in European banks, but will not ban them from entering the 27-nation bloc to keep the negotiation channels open.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed that Moscow is ready for negotiations on Ukraine if the Ukrainian army puts down its weapons

The White House is not planning a summit between the presidents of the United States and Russia, said Joe Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki. She explained this by the escalation of the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.

"President Biden is open to diplomacy, but the moment Putin is preparing to invade a sovereign state is not suitable for top-level talks," Saki said.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said earlier today that Kiev could sever diplomatic relations with Russia after Moscow decided to recognize two regions of eastern Ukraine as independent, Reuters reports.

The presidents of the United States and Russia, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, have agreed in principle to hold a meeting on the crisis in Ukraine, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday, Reuters reported.

Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine's northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine.

Residents of Ukraine's capital filled a gold-domed cathedral to pray for peace.

The Russian and American sides accepted the offer, it is stated in the announcement of the lyse Palace.
"Macron proposed holding a summit between President Biden and President Putin, and then with other stakeholders, on security and strategic stability in Europe. Presidents Biden and Putin generally accepted the idea of such a summit," the statement said.

Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country today again accused each other of shelling and other ceasefire violations amid tensions and fears of a Russian invasion, Reuters reported.

Kyiv and the rebels blamed the escalation after artillery and mortar fire on Thursday.