Uncertainty has shrouded the details around a much-vaunted meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin as fears mount that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine.

Jen Psaki of the White House stated Tuesday she did not have any new information regarding possible meetings between leaders. The two last met in Switzerland at the beginning of this summer.

Psaki made these comments after Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy foreign Minister, said Monday that Russia was in an advanced stage of preparations for a summit between Putin & Biden but it would not likely take place in person. news agency TASS reported.

Psaki and Russia are more important concerns for Biden’s administration. saying it remains “deeply concerned” about heightened rhetoric around a reported Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border.

Many are concerned that Russia may be preparing an invasion of its neighbor after reports have emerged of Russian troops manning Ukraine’s border since weeks.

Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine, in 2014. Russia has been accused in Russia of sending troops and weapons in support pro-Russian uprisings at two self-proclaimed republics located in the Donbass Region in eastern Ukraine. It denies that.

Many Russia watchers believe that Putin plans to launch a military operation against Ukraine. This is despite the fact that Russia has denied any such thoughts. Putin has declared them to be “alarmist.”

You can debate whether there is a 20% or 80% chance of incursion, but it doesn’t make a difference. “We need to prepare for the worst.” Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga, Latvia.

NATO Chief, referring to Crimea, stated, “There’s no certainty and no clarity over exactly what Russian intentions are.”

We need to send a message that Russia should refrain from a military invasion into Ukraine. They’ve done it before. They are still supporting the Donbass separatists. We should discourage them and send a message that this should be stopped. They will most likely not repeat the mistake. He said that we need to also prepare for the possibility of Russia using military force again.

Stoltenberg warned Russia again that any future Russian aggression against Ukraine will come with a heavy price, and could have severe political and economic implications for Russia. Russia’s annexation and use of Crimea has been condemned by both the EU and U.S.

Ukraine desires to become a NATO or EU member. However, NATO does not have any obligation to support the country. It is not clear how far the U.S. or EU will go in order to protect the country. Stoltenberg made reference to this issue Tuesday. He said it was crucial to make a distinction between NATO allies, and the partner Ukraine.

Ukraine requested NATO to set up economic sanctions against Russia and increase military cooperation with Kyiv. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, stated to reporters that he will “call on allies” to help him in putting together a counter-terrorism package. He arrived in Riga for continuing talks with NATO counterparts on Wednesday.

He respondedRed lines are “possibly threats emanating out of that territory,” he said. [Ukraine]If they deploy their attack system on Ukrainian soil, the flight time from Moscow to Moscow will be about 5-7 minutes ….. We would need to do something similar against them, and that is possible, because we are capable.

Russia is concerned by military exercises being conducted near Russian borders. He claimed that these pose a threat.

Putin declared that “the Russian Federation is worried to an extent about major military drills near its borders,” including the Black Sea. When strategic bombers were just 20km away from our border and armed with precision weapons (potentially even nuclear weapons), we would definitely consider this a threat. Putin then complained about NATO’s expansion and the missile defense systems and military infrastructure that were positioned in Poland, Romania, and Romania.

Russia reported Wednesday that it began regular winter drills in parts of its south military district which borders Ukraine. It also said that 10,000 soldiers had moved to training grounds throughout the region.

Andrey Kostin was president and chief of VTB Bank when he spoke to CNBC on Wednesday. He responded to the reports that troops were being built up at Ukraine’s border.

He said that whatever movements are made within the country are within our territory. However, NATO ships and American ships are roaming the Black Sea, which is just 20 to 30 km from Russia’s border. “We are under conditions where a NATO ballistic missile could reach our territory within seven minutes so we think we are under greater threat than NATO countries or America.”

Kostin noted the deplorable state of relations between Russia, the West and Russia. However, he expressed concern that Russia was not gaining trust. He expressed hope that relations would improve.

We are confident that the relationship will improve soon. There will likely be an announcement about a possible meeting between Putin and Biden.