All signs suggest Russia is on the verge of an invasion of Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.
"Everything we've seen shows, it's very serious, we're on the verge of an invasion. We're going to do everything we can to try to prevent it before that happens," Blinken said.
However, speaking on CNN's State of the Union program, as quoted by Reuters, Blinken revealed, Western countries are equally ready if Russia attacks Ukraine.
"Until the tanks and planes really take off, we will seize every opportunity and every minute, we have to see if diplomacy can still prevent President (Vladimir) Putin from continuing this," he said.
Blinken stressed that the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will continue next week as long as Moscow does not continue the invasion.
President Joe Biden is also ready to talk to Putin "at any time, in any format if it can help prevent war", Blinken added.
Western leaders have warned of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, estimating more than 150,000 red bear country troops have surrounded the country.
Earlier, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said his country and Russia were extending military exercises that were supposed to end on Sunday (20/1).
The decision to extend the exercise follows military activity near the Russian and Belarusian borders and the escalation of the situation in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The United States has warned Russia could use false claims about the conflict in Ukraine's Donbass region, including reports of mass graves and allegations of chemical weapons production, to justify an invasion of the former Soviet republic.
Asked if the decision made him more worried about an invasion, Blinken replied: "Yes".
"All this together with the false flag operations we saw exposed over the last weekend tell us that the guidelines we are putting together are moving forward," he said.
