The special services of the Russian Federation, despite the fact that there are not as many of them as in the United States, act very effectively, the president sees the real picture, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

NATO is expanding, and when Russia reduces the number of troops in Kaliningrad, no one will even say thank you, said Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused NATO of using "escalation for de-escalation" tactics against Russia and strengthening its military presence near the Russian borders, but confirmed Moscow's desire to continue negotiations on security guarantees.

Russia wants to reduce NATO's military and political presence on its borders, but will receive "even more NATO," Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the Munich Security Conference.

Washington considers the continuation of the exercises of the Belarusian and Russian armies on the territory of Belarus to be evidence that Russia intends to invade the territory of Ukraine.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said that the neighboring countries of Belarus are "pumping" the most modern weapons and that Europe "smells very strongly of gunpowder."

The UN has received documents from Russia on crimes against civilians in the Donbas, the official representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin believes that Russia is already ready to invade Ukraine in the near future. "I don't believe this is a bluff," he said in an interview with ABC in response to a question.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes that the current situation around Ukraine may result in the largest after the Second World War in Europe.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that at the moment he does not know what Russia's plans for Ukraine are. "We don't know what President Putin is going to do," she said at the Munich Security Conference.

The words of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky about the possible withdrawal of Ukraine from the Budapest Memorandum can be considered a "cunning move," according to military observer, retired Colonel Viktor Baranets.

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov announced the arrival of a plane with weapons from Canada to the country. "We have received military assistance in the form of rifles, machine guns with optical sights, night vision and surveillance devices, military equipment," Reznikov tweeted.

The United Kingdom on Thursday begins to transfer military personnel to Estonia, as well as tanks and other armored vehicles, the British Ministry of Defense reports.

It is necessary to avoid further escalation of the tension of the situation around Ukraine, the representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

US President Joe Biden and the heads of a number of European NATO member states agreed to continue their diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation around Ukraine, while at the same time expressed readiness to take tough measures in case of a complication of the situation, the White House reports.

German troops, which are part of the NATO rapid reaction force, will be put on high alert, which will shorten the time of their deployment to protect Eastern European allies in the event of an escalation of tensions with Russia, the German Defense Ministry said on Friday.

AlfaTV (Finland): Finland's chances of becoming a NATO member have decreased — "It's obvious"

Many NATO countries now think that the expansion of the Alliance in the current situation may lead to an escalation of the conflict, the AlfaTV portal reports. Journalists talked to Finnish expert Matti Pesu, who believes that Finland's chances of becoming a NATO member have decreased.

Pilots of MiG-31 high-altitude interceptors and Su-30SM fighters during day and night flights in Primorye discovered and hit air targets and evaded a retaliatory strike, the press service of the Eastern Military District (VVO) reports.

The Russian aviation missile system 9-A-7660 "Dagger" was tested in the Syrian Arab Republic. Earlier it became known that long-range Tu-22M3 bombers equipped with X-32 cruise missiles arrived there.

Large-scale exercises are continuing in Siberia. So, in the final of the first stage, the pilots of the supersonic fighter-interceptors MiG-31BM destroyed the high-precision weapons of the "enemy" - cruise, anti-aircraft and aircraft guided missiles.