Page 125 - Current Time News Today

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia's Vladimir Putin are scheduled to have a phone call on February 20 to discuss escalating tensions over Ukraine. 

The United States and Britain would seek to cut off Russian companies' access to U.S. dollars and British pounds if Russia attacks Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on February 20.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Iran not to spoil the ongoing talks aimed at saving the 2015 nuclear agreement. 

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said on February 19 that the kingdom was looking to schedule a fifth round of direct talks with Iran despite a "lack of substantive progress" in previous rounds.

Russia has test-fired its latest hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of "planned” drills, the Kremlin said on February 19, as tensions escalate over Ukraine.

Amid growing fears of a possible Russian invasion, NATO has relocated Ukraine staff from Kyiv while the German airline Lufthansa has announced that it is suspending flights to and from the Ukrainian capital and Odesa.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on February 19 that Russia's military was "poised to strike" Ukraine, even as he voiced hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would step back from the brink of war.

Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations said on February 19 that they saw no evidence of Russia reducing its military activity near Ukraine's borders and remain "gravely concerned" about the situation.

NATO expects that the Russian Army will mount “a full-scale attack” on neighboring Ukraine.

A less than 200 kilometer journey turned into an ordeal lasting more than 12 hours for dozens of residents of Donetsk and its environs. On February 18, Russia-backed separatists began carrying out an order to evacuate women, children, and the elderly, saying that Ukrainian armed forces were coming to attack them -- a claim flatly denied by Kyiv. Separatist authorities said that as many as 700,000 would be bused across the border and temporarily accommodated in Russia. Before noon on February 19,...