Russia and Belarus will continue their controversial military drills on the border of Ukraine in a step that has made the US more worried about an imminent invasion.

The defence ministry says the decision was taken because of military activity near the borders of Russia and Belarus as well as the situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region.

Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in that region increased sharply over the past week and increased over the weekend..

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says all signs suggested Russia was about to invade.

“Everything we are seeing suggests that this is dead serious, that we are on the brink of an invasion,” Blinken said, adding that the West was equally prepared if Moscow invades.

“Until the tanks are actually rolling, and the planes are flying, we will use every opportunity and every minute we have to see if diplomacy can still dissuade President Putin from carrying this forward.”

French diplomacy

Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed in a phone call on the need for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

A French presidential adviser said the two agreed that a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, with representatives from Ukraine and Russia, should be held on Monday.

Western leaders have accused Moscow of seeking a pretext to send in troops.

Russia has denied it plans to invade its neighbour.

The President of the European Council Charles Michel has said the EU is ready to impose massive sanctions on the Kremlin.

But Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky accused Western leaders of a “policy of appeasement” towards Moscow and demanded security guarantees for Ukraine.