Brink of war: Final moves to stop Russia invading Ukraine

European leaders are making a final concerted effort to avert a war between Russia and Ukraine, as airlines look to suspend flights in anticipation of an invasion.

European leaders are making a final concerted effort to avert war engulfing their continent.

It comes as airlines look to suspend flights over the Ukraine region in anticipation of a Russian invasion and a repeat of the tragic MH17 shooting down.

The risk of war yesterday saw most currencies see losses, notably the Russian rouble but also the euro and Australian dollar with the global stock markets also suffering a retreat.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday left on a mission of shuttle diplomacy, dashing first to the Ukraine capital Kyiv with a flight to Moscow planned for later in the week for final talks with both nations.

Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces move US-made FIM-92 Stinger missiles in Kyiv. Picture: AFP

Members of the Ukrainian State Border Guard patrol along the border fence at the border crossing between Ukraine and Belarus. Picture: Getty Images

It is the reverse order of the diplomatic dash made by French leader Emmanuel Macron.

The German delegation said the trip was “very critical”.

“In the event of a military aggression against Ukraine that threatens its territorial integrity and sovereignty, that will lead to tough sanctions that we have carefully prepared and which we can immediately put into force,” Mr Scholz said.

The US reaffirmed intelligence pointing to Russia now having more than 130,000 troops massed on the Ukraine border, enough to prompt suspicions an attack was now imminent. The White House suggested Russia was planning to “stage an incident” as a false pretext to invasion.

Russian Navy's diesel-electric Kilo class submarine Rostov-on-Don sails through the Bosphorus Strait. Picture: AFP

Russian sailors stand on the bridge of the Russian Navy’s Kilo-class submarine as it transits the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. Picture: Getty Images

Some Western citizens sought to flee Ukraine but the process was complicated after Dutch carrier KLM became the first major airline to suspend flights to Kyiv, haunted by the memory of the 2014 shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 which killed 298 on board including 27 Australian citizens. That incident came after Russian military moved into Ukraine to help separatist rebels.

Ukraine’s budget carrier SkyUp yesterday also halted some of its flights and other carriers including Lufthansa were reviewing possible flight suspension.

Responding to war fears, UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was not too late to pull “back from the brink” of war.

“There is still a window of opportunity for de-escalation and diplomacy, and the Prime Minister will continue to work tirelessly alongside our allies to get Russia to step back from the brink,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

He said Mr Johnson was working with European leaders before a trip planned during this week’s “window of opportunity”. The location was not specified but was believed to be to the Nordic and Baltic countries.

“The crisis on Ukraine’s border has reached a critical juncture. All the information we have suggests Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine at any moment. This would have disastrous consequences for both Ukraine and Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has surrounded Ukraine from three sides in a high-stakes standoff with the West over NATO’s post-Soviet expansion into countries once under the Kremlin’s domain.

The West has remained united and defiant in the face of Putin’s demands for binding security guarantees that would see NATO roll back its forces and rule out Ukraine’s potential membership of the alliance.

Canada meanwhile has withdrawn all its 200 military personnel from Ukraine where it has trained local troops since 2015, citing a “complex operational environment”.