‘Biggest war since 1945’ on the cards

Russia is preparing to plunge Europe into its worst conflict since World War II, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, warning that any invasion of Ukraine would freeze Moscow out of global finance.

"The fact is that all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun," he said in a BBC interview broadcast yesterday from the Munich Security Conference, after two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in attacks around rebel-held enclaves.

"People need to understand the sheer cost in human life that could entail," he said, after previously indicating that the West would continue to support any Ukraine resistance after an invasion.

"I'm afraid to say that the plan we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945, just in terms of sheer scale."

US President Joe Biden had said earlier on Friday that he was "convinced" Russian President Vladimir Putin had "made the decision" to attack Ukraine, sending fears soaring that a major conflict could break out in Europe. Johnson has urged western countries to be united like never before to face the challenge.

But the message of unity was slightly undermined by ," German FM Annalena Baerbock's refusal to echo US claims that Russia could invade Ukraine any moment now. "We do not know yet if an attack has been decided on," Baerbock said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, attending the same conference, also pushed back against Washington's dire predictions.

Speaking on the main stage in Munich, Zelensky said it was "difficult for me to judge" the US intelligence behind the warnings, but "I trust Ukrainian intelligence, who understand what's going on along our borders".