Russia stokes Ukraine tension with N-missile tests

Zelensky Asks Putin To Meet As Ukrainian Rebels Mobilise Troops, Urges West Not To Make Deal Behind Kyiv’s Back    

As shelling struck towns in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and civilians boarded buses to evacuate the region, Russia engaged in a dramatic display of military theatre, test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles in a reminder to the West that a conflict over Ukraine could quickly escalate. In eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists have asserted, without evidence, that Kyiv was planning a largescale attack, separatist leaders urged women and children to evacuate and mobilised able-bodied men to prepare to fight.

With Western fears of war rising, foreign ministers from the G7 nations said they had seen no evidence that Russia is reducing military activity near Ukraine’s borders and remained “gravely concerned” about the situation. G7 foreign ministers called on Russia “to choose the path of diplomacy”. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, meanwhile, appeared to compare Russia’s military to a snake that was “uncoiling and preparing to strike”.