Diplomatic flurry to avert Russia-NATO clash over Ukraine

With war clouds gathering over Ukraine, international diplomacy goes into overdrive on Monday with the French and Russian presidents to talk in Moscow and the German chancellor heading to the White House to meet with US leader Joe Biden.

Also on Monday, the German, Czech, Slovak and Austrian foreign ministers were expected in Kyiv, which has played down dire US warnings that Moscow had stepped up preparations for a major incursion into Ukraine.

US officials have said the Kremlin has assembled 110,000 troops along the border with its pro-Western neighbour but intelligence assessments have not determined whether President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to invade.

They said Russia is on track to amass a large enough force -- some 150,000 soldiers -- for a full-scale invasion by mid-February.

Such a force would be capable of taking the capital Kyiv in a matter of 48 hours in an onslaught that would kill up to 50,000 civilians, 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 10,000 Russian troops and trigger a refugee flood of up to five million people, mainly into Poland, the officials added.

On top of the potential human cost, Ukraine fears further damage to its already struggling economy.

And if Moscow attacks Ukraine it could face retaliation over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline -- set to double natural gas supplies from Russia to Germany -- with Berlin threatening to block it.

Russia is seeking a guarantee from NATO that Ukraine will not enter the alliance and wants the bloc to withdraw forces from member states in eastern Europe.
Moscow denies that it is planning to invade Ukraine, and Kyiv's presidency advisor said the chances of a diplomatic solution to the crisis remained "substantially higher than the threat of further...