Russia responds to US proposal to de-escalate Ukraine crisis

Russia's government has sent a written response to a US proposal aimed at de-escalating the Ukraine crisis, according to Biden administration officials.

The Russian response comes as the Biden administration continues to press the Kremlin to de-escalate a growing crisis on the Ukraine border, where some 100,000 Russian troops have massed.

A State Department official declined to offer details of the response, saying it “would be unproductive to negotiate in public” and they would leave it up to Russia to discuss their counterproposal.

The region has been on high alert as Russian troops amass on the border fuelling Western fears that Moscow is preparing an invasion of its southern neighbour.Earlier, the UK reaffirmed its support to Ukraine, pledging tens of millions of pounds in an attempt to shore up the country's democracy and reduce its reliance on Russian energy as Boris Johnson held out hope he could defuse tensions on the country’s border.

The Prime Minister is set to travel to Kyiv on Tuesday as tensions remained at a fever pitch between the Kremlin and the former Soviet state.

Mr Johnson had been due to speak to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday, but a time could not be agreed after the PM’s defence of his leadership and the partygate saga took up a hefty chunk of his day.

No 10 said there had been no “settled time” for the call and that they were still hoping to arrange a time with the Kremlin for the two men to speak, but the prime minister was criticised by the Labour Party as "unfit for office" for missing a "vital diplomatic opportunity."

Ahead of Mr Johnson's visit to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the prime minister said the UK was committed to uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty, and called on Russia to engage in dialogue and "avoid further bloodshed."

It comes as the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee launched a new inquiry on the “dirty money” associated with corruption.

Committee chairman and Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said the government had “done little to address these dangers” and added: “Today, illicit finance and corruption are closer to home and now there are new threats to contend with.

He added: “As a global financial centre, the UK is in a unique position to act and to protect against threats to the rules-based international order. Russia’s intimidation of Ukraine, and the pressure The Kremlin is putting on other European states, makes it clear we must act.”

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced plans for legislation with new powers to sanction individuals and businesses linked to the Russian state and she said those sharing responsibility for the Kremlin’s “aggressive, destabilising action” could have their assets in the UK frozen.

“We will be able to target any company that is linked to the Russian state, engages in business of economic significance to the Russian state or operates in a sector of strategic significance to the Russian state,” she told MPs.

Ms Truss was due to join Mr Johnson on the trip to Kyiv, but she will not be travelling after testing positive for Covid on Monday evening.

The UK is expected to bolster military presence in eastern Europe as part of Nato’s efforts to secure the region.

But British and Nato combat forces are not expected to be deployed in Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance.

Around 100 British personnel are involved in a training mission in the country, and Downing Street said that since 2015, British Armed Forces had trained more than 22,000 Ukrainian troops.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said he was engaged in “non-stop diplomacy” to try and dial down the threat on the Ukrainian border.

He said: “I had productive talks last week with President Zelensky and continue to be engaged in nonstop diplomacy and deescalate tension and to improve security of our ally and all of Europe.”

However, talks between the US and Russia have so far failed to ease tensions in the crisis as both countries exchanged harsh words on Monday at the UN Security Council in New York, where Moscow lost an attempt to block a public meeting on its troop build-up near Ukraine's borders.

US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield dismissed a charge by Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia that Washington was trying “to whip up hysterics” and use “megaphone diplomacy” by calling the first Security Council meeting on the crisis.

“Imagine how uncomfortable you would be if you had 100,000 troops on your border,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield said.

'This is as clear and consequential a threat to peace and security as anyone can imagine': Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN

The vote on holding an open meeting passed 10-2, with Russia and China opposed, and three abstentions. Nine “yes" votes were needed for the meeting to go ahead.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement that the meeting was “a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice” to reject the use of force, seek military de-escalation, support diplomacy and demand accountability from every member “to refrain from military aggression against its neighbours."

Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed on the border, but Mr Putin has denied he is planning an attack, although he is demanding guarantees Ukraine will never join Nato, while calling on the Western alliance to draw back its forces in eastern Europe.