Russia is massing yet more troops near Ukraine, says US

Russia is massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month's Winter Olympics, Blinken said

Russia is massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month's Winter Olympics, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

Moscow, for its part, ramped up its truculent response towards a Western diplomatic push to defuse the crisis, dismissing answers sent this week by the EU and NATO to its security demands as an insult.

Commercial satellite images published by a private US company showed new Russian military deployments at several locations near Ukraine.

In his starkest warning yet to Americans in Ukraine to get out now, President Joe Biden said he would not send troops to rescue US citizens in the event of a Russian assault.

"Things could go crazy quickly," Biden told NBC News.

Blinken, visiting Australia, told a news conference: "We're in a window when an invasion could begin at any time, and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics." The Beijing games end on February 20.

"Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border," Blinken said.

Ukraine rejects Russian pressure in talks, Moscow says no progress

Ukraine said on Friday it would not yield to pressure from Moscow to negotiate with Russian-backed separatist leaders, after the latest four-nation talks ended with no breakthrough on ending eight years of fighting.

Russia's envoy to the talks said there was “zero” progress and accused Ukraine of putting forward absurd proposals.

The failure marked a setback for efforts to defuse the wider Ukraine crisis in which Russia has massed more than 100,000 soldiers near Ukraine's borders, raising fears of a war.