U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he is "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine following a massive military buildup near its borders, but he noted that diplomacy is not yet off the table.
As tensions simmer over the Ukraine crisis, the Russian Defense Ministry said it will conduct massive military drills involving its nuclear forces on Saturday.
In the latest show of Western unity, Biden and European leaders agreed during a phone call to continue pursuing diplomacy to de-escalate tensions, while reiterating their warning that Russia will face "swift, coordinated economic costs" should it choose further conflict, according to the White House.
The overwhelming message of the call was "one of unity, determination and resolve," Biden told a press conference.
Biden said Thursday that he saw a "very high" risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine within the "next several days." On Friday he said Putin had made up his mind.
"We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days," he said, adding that the Ukraine capital will also likely be targeted.
The leaders of the Group of Seven -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union -- will also hold a virtual meeting next Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a press conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has traveled to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference, and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are planning to meet on Thursday, unless Moscow invades Ukraine.
Russian troops have been arrayed along Ukraine's borders, with forces positioned within Russian territory as well as in Belarus, which has close ties with Moscow, and in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014.
Russia is likely to have amassed between 169,000 and 190,000 military personnel near Ukraine, compared with about 100,000 on Jan. 30, according to a statement from Michael Carpenter, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
He said the buildup was "the most significant military mobilization in Europe" since World War II and doubled down on the U.S. assertion that Moscow is seeking to create a pretext to justify an invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian government may stage a fabricated attack by the Ukrainian military against Russian territory, or against Russian-speaking people in separatist-controlled territory, to justify military action against Ukraine, he said.
While denying any intention to invade the former Soviet republic, Moscow asserts that its security is under threat with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's eastward expansion and the possibility of Ukraine's membership of the alliance.
Concerns are growing in particular over the situation in eastern Ukraine -- the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas and partially controlled by Russian-led forces since 2014.
Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in those regions. As clashes continue, a kindergarten in eastern Ukraine was among civilian structures shelled recently, with the two sides blaming each other for the attack.
On Friday, the separatists said they planned to evacuate residents to Russia due to fears of a military operation by Ukraine, an apparent effort to paint Ukraine as the aggressor.
