The “first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia” will be announced on Tuesday, Boris Johnson has said, as one of his senior cabinet ministers said the Russian “invasion of Ukraine has begun”.
The United States and its European allies are poised to announce harsh new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, escalating a security crisis on the continent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to formally recognise the independence of two rebel-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine, breaching the 2015 protocol that ended the conflict in Donbas and further inflaming the tensions between the two countries.
Evidence suggests Russia is planning "the biggest war in Europe since 1945", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
US President Joe Biden has said he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to launch an invasion of Ukraine, and that an assault could happen in the "coming days".
Ivan Malyuta, a resident of Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, applied for Russian citizenship this month and said he, his wife and three children will soon be getting Russian passports.
Parts of the UK are bracing for the impact of one of the most serious storms in years after the Met Office issued a rare red warning for Friday.
Russia is preparing to fabricate a reason to invade Ukraine and launch an attack in the coming days, the US says.
The latest satellite images provided by the US space technology company Maxar show that wide-scale Russian military activity persists close to Ukraine's borders, despite recent Russian claims of de-escalation and withdrawal.
Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control, officials say.
Donald Trump has confirmed that he will not take part in Republican presidential debates with his rivals in the race for the White House.