In Ukraine

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is in Bucharest, met virtually today with nine of his Eastern European counterparts to discuss the crisis over Ukraine, Reuters reported. According to information from ClubZ, the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodora Genchovska also participated.

Bulgaria is "a committed NATO ally contributing to our collective defence." This was written on Twitter by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg after a conversation with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov yesterday.

The United States on Wednesday deployed several thousand troops to bolster NATO forces in eastern Europe, as the leaders of France and Germany flagged trips to Moscow to address Western fears of an invasion of Ukraine.

According to the description of the videos posted on social networks, heavy artillery fire has been echoing in that part of Ukraine since early morning.

Heavy shelling in #Donetsk this morningpic.twitter.com/tYz8Bp5Hu1

— marqs (@MarQs__) February 2, 2022

Another video states that the artillery is echoing in the Kirovsky district.

"If Russian officials are serious when they say they don't want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine's borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine", Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
"Diplomacy is the only responsible way," Kuleba added.

This has intensified especially lately, and the world media publish satellite images showing Russian troops and equipment.
Russia has denied any possibility of invasion, but troops build-up has been recorded on satellite images in bases surrounding the northern, eastern and southern borders of Ukraine.

Moscow and Kiev have agreed to abide by a "ceasefire" policy during talks in the Normandy format in Paris. After nearly 9 hours of talks, Paris officials described the discussions as a "good signal".

The gathering of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine has raised fears that the Kremlin is planning an invasion of its neighbor Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said on Tuesday that it had "uncovered a Russian criminal group" that planned to carry out a "series of armed attacks" on the country's territory.

The SSU claims that the group is "coordinated by the Russian special services" and that its goal was to work to "destabilize" Ukraine.

Dramatic news is coming from Ukraine about a new possible war in Europe.
Earlier in the day, Fox News reported that the families of the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Kiev were ordered to start leaving the country on Monday.
U.S. State Department did not confirm that.

The United States warned last night that Russia could invade Ukraine "at any time."

"We are at a stage where Russia can attack Ukraine at any time," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said yesterday.

According to her, this is an "extremely dangerous situation".

Russian Foreign Minister: Our Patience is Running Out