‘Threat of war tomorrow’

A respected Russian open-sourced data group earlier this week produced more evidence that Moscow had been shipping tanks and ammunition close to the border with Ukraine.

“There is a threat today that there will be a war tomorrow. We are entirely prepared for an escalation,” Mr Zelenskiy said. 

The president added that he had received assurances from Western nations that they would “support” Ukraine “if something happens”. 

But he admitted he did not know exactly what form this support would take.

“What it’s going to look like in reality – I don’t know. I haven’t received exact details.”

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg did little to clarify the situation on Friday when he told the media that Moscow would face “consequences” for any attack on its neighbour. 

It is “clear that if Russia uses force against Ukraine, that will have costs,” he said.

Mr Stoltenberg said a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Latvia’s capital Riga next week would address the massing of Russian military units on the border, which provides “very strong reasons to be deeply concerned”.

“This is the second time this year that Russia has massed a large and unusual concentration of forces in the region,” he said, listing “heavy capabilities like tanks, artillery armoured units, drones, and electronic warfare systems as well as combat-ready troops”.

He called the military buildup “unprovoked and unexplained” and warned “it raises tensions and it risks miscalculations”.

Moscow has denounced as Western “hysteria” the concerns that it might be planning to invade Ukraine, part of which – Crimea – it annexed in 2014.