Summary

  • Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance has not seen any de-escalation of Russian military build-up on Ukraine's borders

  • Following a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, he says the security threat from Russia represents a "new normal" for Europe

  • "This is the biggest concentration in forces in Europe since the Cold War," he says

  • It comes after Russia said it was pulling back more troops - this time from the Crimean peninsula

  • A series of cyber attacks on Tuesday knocked out the websites of Ukraine's defence ministry and two banks

  • Ukraine has been marking a day of unity after earlier US reports suggested Russia could attack today

Live Reporting

Edited by Becky Morton

  1. Good morning

    Thank you for joining our live coverage of the Ukraine crisis.

    Here are the last developments:

    • Russia has announced some of its forces are leaving Crimea after finishing military exercises
    • But UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says he has not yet seen any evidence that Russia is scaling back its operation
    • It comes as Ukraine marks a day of unity amid fears of a Russian invasion
    • US president Joe Biden is warning a Russian attack on Ukraine is “still very much a possibility”
    • He says Russia has massed some 150,000 troops on the Ukrainian borders
    • President Vladimir Putin yesterday told a news conference that Russia does not want war in Europe - but that Nato had failed to address security concerns