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FILE PHOTO: U.S. military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, delivered as part of the security support package for Ukraine, is unloaded from a plane at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyivv, Ukraine February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko - 

About 150 US troops from the Florida National Guard who have been in Ukraine to help train Ukrainian forces are leaving the country as the threat of a Russian invasion increases, the Pentagon said on Saturday (Feb 12).

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the decision, first reported by Reuters, was made out of an abundance of caution and was informed by the State Department's decision to withdraw some staff from the US embassy in Kyiv.

"This repositioning does not signify a change in our determination to support Ukraine's Armed Forces, but will provide flexibility in assuring allies and deterring aggression," Kirby said in a written statement.

The trainers will be repositioned within Europe, he said, but it was not clear exactly where.

It was also not immediately clear what will happen with the small number of US special operations forces in the country, according to a US official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Reuters reported on Friday that the Pentagon will send 3,000 additional troops to Poland as Russia held military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea following the buildup of its forces near Ukraine.

Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands on Saturday joined countries urging their citizens to leave Ukraine. Washington said on Friday that a Russian invasion, likely beginning with an air assault, could occur at any time.

Moscow has repeatedly disputed Washington's version of events, saying it has massed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border to maintain its own security against aggression by NATO allies//CNA

A man kicks a tear gas canister fired by French anti-riot policemen on the Champs Elysees in Paris on February 12, 2022 protesters so called "Convoi de la Liberte" arrived in the French capital. (Photo: AFP/Sameer Al-DOUMY) - 

French police fired tear gas at demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees avenue and other places in Paris on Saturday (Feb 12) after a "Freedom Convoy" protesting against COVID-19 restrictions made it into the capital.

Vehicles carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe monument.

Inspired by horn-blaring "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations in Canada, motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.

Police also threw tear gas grenades to disperse protestors, who are against a vaccine pass required to enter many public places, near the Arc de Triomphe and sprayed demonstrators in a separate march on the other side of the city.

"The vaccine pass is necessary to be able to work or play sports. We can't stand the vaccine pass any more," said Nathalie Galdeano who came from southwest France by bus to participate in the protests.

"We don't want this injection, we want to have the right to choose," she told Reuters.

Police said that they had arrested 14 people, handed out 337 tickets by mid-afternoon and earlier had stopped 500 vehicles in the morning that were trying to get into Paris.

Meanwhile, 2,000-3,000 people, including some "Yellow Vest" protesters, marched in a separate, authorised demonstration in Paris against COVID-19 restrictions as well as declining standards of living amid surging inflation.

Less than two months from a presidential election, President Emmanuel Macron's government is eager to keep protests from spiralling into large-scale demonstrations like the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protests of 2018.

Separately police also said they had arrested five protesters in southern Paris in possession of sling shots, hammers, knives and gas masks.

Police had mobilised more than 7,000 officers, set up checkpoints and deployed armoured personnel carriers and water cannon trucks in preparation for the protests.

Canadian truckers protesting a vaccine mandate for trans-border traffic have paralysed parts of the capital Ottawa since late January and blocked US-Canada crossing points.

The French protests are against rules requiring a vaccine pass to enter many public places and come after months of regular demonstrations against the pass in Paris and other cities.

The Yellow Vest movement which began as a protest against fuel taxes grew into a broader revolt that saw some of the worst street violence in decades and tested Macron's authority//CNA

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet for the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - 

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak on Saturday (Feb 12) as Western nations warned a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment.

Putin requested the telephone call between the leaders to take place on Monday, a White House official said, but Biden wanted to conduct it sooner as Washington detailed increasingly vivid accounts of a possible attack on Ukraine.

Australia and New Zealand on Saturday joined the countries urging their citizens to leave Ukraine, after Washington said a Russian invasion, including a possible air assault, could occur anytime.

Moscow has repeatedly disputed Washington's version of events, saying it has massed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border to maintain its own security against aggression by NATO allies.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed hope that Putin would choose diplomacy but said Washington would impose swift economic sanctions if Moscow invades.

"I continue to hope that he will not choose the path of renewed aggression and he'll chose the path of diplomacy and dialogue," Blinken told reporters after a meeting with Pacific leaders in Fiji. "But if he doesn't, we're prepared."

Putin, jostling for influence in post-Cold War Europe, is seeking security guarantees from Biden to block Kyiv's entry into NATO and missile deployments near Russia's borders.

Washington regards many of the proposals as non-starters but has pushed the Kremlin to discuss them jointly with Washington and its European allies.

Still, Biden, who will join the weekend call from the mountainside presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, has long believed that one-on-one engagement with Putin may be the best chance at a resolution.

Two calls in December between Biden and Putin produced no breakthroughs but set the stage for diplomacy between their aides. The two leaders have not spoken since, and diplomats from both sides have struggled to find common ground. Four-way talks in Berlin between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France on Thursday made no progress.

Putin also plans to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, according to Russia's TASS news agency.

US intelligence believes a rapid assault on Kyiv is possible and that Putin could order an invasion before the Winter Olympics end on Feb 20, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday, adding it remains unclear whether such a command has been given.

He said they had gathered sufficient troops near the border to invade the country and that they may initiate an aerial bombing.

On Twitter, Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy accused Washington of fanning "hysteria" and mounting a "panic campaign."

Ukrainian officials have tried to tamp down Washington's assessment an invasion could be imminent.

Nonetheless, Washington planned to send 3,000 extra troops to Poland, Ukraine's western neighbor, in coming days to try and help reassure NATO allies, four US officials told Reuters. They are in addition to 8,500 already on alert for deployment to Europe if needed.

Meanwhile, Russian forces gathered north, south and east of Ukraine as six Russian warships reached the Black Sea and more Russian military equipment arrived in Belarus. Commercial satellite images from a US firm showed new Russian military deployments at several sites near the border.

Ahead of the talks with Putin, Biden spoke about the crisis with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Poland and Romania, as well as the heads of NATO and the EU. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

"Our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering," Blinken said after the call on Friday.

Washington also expressed concern that Russia and China were cooperating at the highest level, with a senior administration official saying on Saturday the two were "working to undermine us".

A partnership agreement between Moscow and Beijing shows they are in "fundamental alignment" that is growing closer, and a meeting between Putin and China's President Xi Jinping shows Beijing sees Moscow's moves regarding Ukraine as "legitimate," the official told reporters accompanying Blinken on a flight from Australia to Fiji//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A service member of the Ukrainian armed forces walks at combat positions near the line of separation from Russian-backed rebels outside the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk Region, Ukraine February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Klymenko/File Photo - 

British nationals who choose to stay in Ukraine should not expect a military evacuation if conflict with Russia breaks out, junior defence minister James Heappey told Sky News on Saturday (Feb 12).

"British nationals should leave Ukraine immediately by any means possible and they should not expect, as they saw in the summer with Afghanistan, that there would be any possibility of a military evacuation," he said.

On Friday the UK government advised British nationals to leave Ukraine while commercial means were still available and advised against all further travel to the country.

Britain is, however, maintaining a diplomatic presence in Ukraine.

"I am staying in Kyiv and continue to work there with a core team. The embassy remains operational," the British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, said on Twitter.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday British troops sent to Ukraine for training purposes would return soon.

"There will be no British troops in Ukraine if there is any conflict with Russia," said Heappey.

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were set to speak on Saturday as Western nations warned that a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment//CNA