More Russian troops mass near Ukraine

Russia is now massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month's Winter Olympics, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.

Commercial satellite images published by a private US company showed new Russian military deployments at several locations near Ukraine.

In his starkest warning yet to Americans in Ukraine to get out now, President Joe Biden said he would not send troops to rescue US citizens in the event of a Russian assault. "Things could go crazy quickly," Biden told NBC News.

Blinken, visiting Australia, told a news conference: "We're in a window when an invasion could begin at any time, and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics." The Beijing games end on February 20.

Russia has already massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine, and this week it launched joint military exercises in Belarus and naval drills in the Black Sea.

Several Western countries launched diplomatic pushes this week to persuade Russia to back down, but Moscow brushed them off, yielding no concessions to French President Emmanuel Macron who visited on Monday and openly mocking British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during a visit on Thursday.

Four-way talks in Berlin between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, part of a longstanding peace process in a conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists, also yielded no progress on Thursday.