Father of man who died after his plane was shot down over Ukraine urges caution from Russian leaders

They remain among the first western lives lost to tensions in the Ukraine, which are now threatening to escalate into an all out war.Avid Newcastle United fans Liam Sweeney and John Alder died when the passenger flight they were travelling on was downed in the skies over the disputed territory. An inquiry ruled flight MH17 had been shot down by a Russian made missile launcher, supplied by Russia to Russian backed separatists.Seven years later with Russian forces now lined at the Ukrainian border 1,900 miles away in Newcastle Barry Sweeney is pleading for the Russian president to pull back from pulling the trigger.

Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden say a "crucial window for diplomacy" remains amid warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine as soon as Wednesday.

As the two leaders urged Moscow to step back from its threats to its neighbour, the US also announced it was moving its embassy and all remaining staff in Kyiv to the western city of Lviv which is much further away from the Russian border.

The move comes as officials in Washington, London and elsewhere predict that a potential Russian invasion may come as early as February 16.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lead a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee on Tuesday 15 February after Downing Street echoed the US's fears that Moscow could be planning to invade its neighbour "at any moment".

Boris Johnson warned that the situation in Ukraine is "very, very dangerous" and it is "pretty clear" that Moscow is plotting an invasion.