KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia on Sunday rescinded pledges to pull tens of thousands of troops back from Ukraine's northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Moscow another step closer to an invasion.
On Sunday night, the White House said President Joe Biden had agreed "in principle" to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as long as he holds off on launching an assault.
"We are always ready for diplomacy," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Russia's action extended what it said were military exercises, originally set to end Sunday, that drew an estimated 30,000 Russian forces to Belarus, Ukraine's neighbor to the north. They are among at least 150,000 Russian troops now deployed outside Ukraine's borders, along with tanks, warplanes, artillery and other war materiel.
Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and it has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea.
"Now they're justifying the continuation of exercises -- exercises, in quotation marks -- that they said would end now," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CNN's "State of the Union," describing the move as part of Russia "continuing to ramp up tensions."
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Russia has withdrawn a lot of troops from the Kaliningrad area, "and nobody even sent us a thank you." Kaliningrad is nestled between Poland and Lithuania and does not border Ukraine.
Antonov denied that there are plans to invade, saying Russia has the right to deploy where it wants on its own territory.
"Russian troops are on sovereign Russian territory," Antonov said, despite the presence of Russian forces in Belarus and Moldova. "I would like to emphasize once again that this is our own territory. Can you even imagine that Russia will impose on the United States not to deploy your forces in Florida or in San Francisco?"
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, said in a separate interview on the CBS program that over the past few days, Ukraine has seen a stark difference between what Russian officials have claimed and done.
"While preparing to defend our country, we're using every possibility to still choose the diplomatic path and force Russia to choose the diplomatic path," Markarova said. "We are calling not only on the aggressor, which is Russia, but also on all of our friends and allies to get together and use every opportunity to still deter Russia from invading."
The continued deployment of the Russian forces in Belarus raised concern that they could sweep down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people less than a three-hour drive away.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking on ABC's "This Week," warned that Putin could take control of the capital city very quickly.
"We see a lot of tanks and armored vehicles there. We see a lot of artillery. We see rocket forces," Austin said in an interview recorded Friday while he was in Poland. "If he employs that kind of combat power, it will certainly create enormous casualties within the civilian population."
PRAYING FOR PEACE
In Kyiv, life outwardly continued as usual for many on a mild winter Sunday, with brunches and church services, ahead of what Biden has said is an already decided-upon Russian attack.
Katerina Spanchak, who fled a region of eastern Ukraine when it was taken over by Russian-allied separatists, was among worshippers crowded into the capital's St. Michael's monastery, smoky with the candles burned by the faithful, to pray that Ukraine be spared.
"We all love life, and we are all united by our love of life," Spanchak said, pausing to compose herself. "We should appreciate it every day. That's why I think everything will be fine."
"Our joint prayers will help to elude this tragedy, which is advancing," said another worshipper, who identified himself only by his first name, Oleh.
A U.S. official said Sunday that Biden's assertion that Putin has made the decision was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.
The United States and many European countries have alleged for weeks that Putin has built up the forces he needs to invade Ukraine -- a westward-looking democracy that has sought to move out of Russia's orbit -- and is now trying to create pretexts to invade.
Western nations have threatened extensive sanctions if Putin does so.
U.S. officials Sunday defended their decision to hold off on sanctions, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday for the West to do more.
While what is planned in the way of sanctions is "unprecedented," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, Russia has not yet invaded.
"If you punish somebody for something they haven't done yet, then they might as well just go ahead and do it," Kirby said on "Fox News Sunday." "So we're holding that in advance and we're hoping that that could affect the calculus of Mr. Putin."
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
The announcement that Russia was reversing its pledge to withdraw its forces from Belarus came after two days of sustained shelling along a contact line between Ukraine's soldiers and Russian-allied separatists in eastern Ukraine, an area that Ukraine and the West worry could be the flash point in igniting a conflict.
Biden convened the National Security Council at the White House, but officials released no details of their roughly two hours of discussion.
"We're talking about the potential for war in Europe. I mean, let's really take a moment to understand the significance of what we're talking about," Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday at a security conference in Munich that included urgent consultations among world leaders.
"It's been over 70 years, and through those 70 years ... there has been peace and security," she said. "We are talking about the real possibility of war in Europe."
Wrapping up a weekend of outreach to European allies to bolster the West's resolve, Harris made the case that the rapidly escalating tensions meant European security was under "direct threat" and that there should be unified support for economic penalties if the Kremlin invades its neighbor.
Harris told reporters that an invasion -- and subsequent sanctions on Russia -- would likely have costs for Americans as well.
"When America stands for principles, and all of the things that we hold dear, it requires sometimes for us to put ourselves out there in a way that maybe we will incur some cost," Harris said.
"In this situation, that may relate to energy costs, for example," she said. "But we are taking very specific and appropriate, I believe, steps to mitigate what that cost might be if it happens."
European and U.S. officials insisted they were still pursuing what Blinken depicted as last-ditch diplomacy.
Zelenskyy on Sunday appealed on Twitter for a cease-fire. Russia has denied plans to invade, but the Kremlin did not respond to Zelenskyy's offer Saturday to meet with Putin.
After a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin blamed Ukraine -- incorrectly, according to observers there -- for the escalation of shelling along the contact line and NATO for "pumping modern weapons and ammunition" into Ukraine. The Kremlin statement mentioned a cease-fire only in passing and made no mention of Zelenskyy's call for a meeting.
"Taking into account the acuteness of the current state of affairs," the Kremlin said, "the presidents considered it expedient to intensify the search for solutions to diplomatic means."
Macron, a leader in European efforts to broker a peaceful resolution, also spoke separately with Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Biden. Macron's office said the Ukrainian and Russian leaders had agreed to work toward a diplomatic solution "in coming days and coming weeks."
'STILL AN OPTION'
Blinken on Sunday renewed his offer to meet one-on-one with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week -- on the condition, he said, that Putin has not invaded Ukraine by then.
"Up to the last minute, there is still an option for him to pull back," Blinken said on NBC's Meet the Press.
"We believe President Putin has made the decision, but until the tanks are actually rolling, and the planes are flying, we will use every opportunity and every minute we have to see if diplomacy can still dissuade President Putin from carrying this forward," Blinken said on CNN.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued an advisory urging greater caution by Americans in Russia. "Have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance," it warned.
Immediate worries focused on eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting the pro-Russia rebels since 2014 in a conflict that has killed some 14,000 people.
In the eastern Ukraine regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, separatist leaders have ordered a full military mobilization and sent more civilians to Russia, which has issued about 700,000 passports to residents of the rebel-held territories.
Officials in the separatist territories claimed that Ukrainian forces had launched several artillery attacks over the past day and that two civilians were killed in an unsuccessful assault on a village near the Russian border. Ukraine's military said two soldiers died in firing from the separatist side Saturday.
"When tension is escalated to the maximum, as it is now, for example, on the line of contact, then any spark, any unplanned incident or any minor planned provocation can lead to irreparable consequences," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday on Russian state television.
On the front lines, Ukrainian soldiers said they were under orders not to return fire. Zahar Leshushun, peering into the distance with a periscope, had followed the news all day from a trench where he is posted near the town of Zolote.
"Right now, we don't respond to their fire because..." the soldier said before the sound of an incoming shell interrupted him. "Oh! They are shooting at us now. They are aiming at the command post."
Information for this article was contributed by Lori Hinnant, Jim Heintz, Zeke Miller, Mstyslav Chernov, Geir Moulson, Aamer Madhani, Ellen Knickmeyer, Robert Burns, Darlene Superville, Liudas Dapkus and Yuras Karmanau of The Associated Press; by Edward Wong of The New York Times; and by Dan Lamothe, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Robyn Dixon, Amy B Wang, Sean Sullivan, Ashley Parker and Sammy Westfall of The Washington Post.
Demonstrators sing the national anthem during a protest in Odessa, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022.Thousands of people in Odessa marched through the streets of the city in a show of unity on Sunday, marking the date on which, eight years ago, more than a hundred people were killed during Ukraine's Maidan revolution. Waving national flags and placards with slogans such as, 'No Putin, No Cry', people said they had come out to demonstrate against a potential Russian invasion, and said that they were prepared to defend their city if needed. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People from Donetsk, the territory controlled by a pro-Russia separatist government in eastern Ukraine, gather to fill in documents after evacuating in the Rostov-on-Don region, near the border with Ukraine, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia is extending military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. (AP Photo)
A Ukrainian serviceman walks to a frontline position outside Popasna, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia extended military drills near Ukraine's northern borders Sunday amid increased fears that two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could spark an invasion. Ukraine's president appealed for a cease-fire. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A local resident walks at the scene of an explosion next to his house after alleged shelling by separatists forces in Novognativka, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia is extending military drills near Ukraine's northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People from Donetsk, the territory controlled by a pro-Russia separatist government in eastern Ukraine, gather to fill in documents after evacuating in the Rostov-on-Don region, near the border with Ukraine, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia is extending military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. (AP Photo)
Oleksandr Manha comforts his 4 year-old daughter Sofia as his wife Anastasia Manha, 23, lulls her 2 month-old son Mykyta, where she lives with her family members, after alleged shelling by separatists forces in Novognativka, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia is extending military drills near Ukraine's northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
An instructor, right, shows a grenade during a training of members of a Ukrainian far-right group train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia extended military drills near Ukraine's northern borders Sunday amid increased fears that two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between soldiers and Russa-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could spark an invasion. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A boy plays with a weapon as an instructor shows a Kalashnikov assault rifle while training members of a Ukrainian far-right group train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia extended military drills near Ukraine's northern borders Sunday amid increased fears that two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could spark an invasion. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
People from Donetsk, the territory controlled by a pro-Russia separatist government in eastern Ukraine, gather to fill in documents after evacuating in the Rostov-on-Don region, near the border with Ukraine, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Russia is extending military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. (AP Photo)Gallery: Crisis over Ukraine, 2-20-2022
