Joe Biden holds National Security Council meeting on Ukraine crisis

US President Joe Biden held a meeting of the National Security Council over the situation around Ukraine on Sunday, the White House said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin along with the other members of NSC were present during the meeting.

"Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. convened a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the latest developments regarding Russia's military buildup on the borders of Ukraine," the White House said in a tweet.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a Saturday statement, "President Biden continues to monitor the evolving situation in Ukraine and is being updated regularly about events on the ground by his national security team. They reaffirmed that Russia could launch an attack against Ukraine at any time."

Western countries and Kyiv have been accusing Russia of preparing for an alleged "invasion" of Ukraine. Moscow has denied these accusations, repeatedly stating that it is not threatening anyone and at the same time expressing strong concerns over NATO's military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.

Russia has pointed out that rising fears of an "invasion" in Ukraine appear to be used as a pretext for advancing NATO's military presence further eastward in Europe.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the ongoing turmoil is being deliberately promoted by the West to cover up Kyiv's sabotage of the Minsk agreements.

The self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics (LPR and DPR) in Ukraine's southeast (Donbas) announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia's Rostov Region on Friday over the escalation of tensions on the contact line. DPR and LPR have been reporting ongoing shelling of Donbas settlements by Kyiv forces since Thursday.