Reuters
Poland's foreign minister said on Thursday that Europe was at risk of plunging into war as Russia said it was not yet giving up on diplomacy but that military experts were preparing options in case tensions over Ukraine could not be defused.
In Washington, the White House said the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine remained high with some 100,000 Russian troops deployed and the United States would make public within 24 hours intelligence suggesting Russia might seek to invent a pretext to justify one.
"The drumbeat of war is sounding loud, and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill," Michael Carpenter, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said after talks with Russia in Vienna.
"The threat of military invasion is high," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. "There are no dates set for any more talks. We have to consult with allies and partners first."
