The Wall Street Journal reports:

President Biden warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of “swift and severe costs” if Russia moves against Ukraine in a phone call Saturday, as the U.S. ordered most embassy staff out of the country and Moscow also began withdrawing its diplomatic presence there.

“President Biden was clear that, if Russia undertakes a further invasion of Ukraine, the United States together with our allies and partners will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on Russia,” the White House said after the two leaders’ hourlong call.

The discussion didn’t bring about any breakthrough and there was “no fundamental change” in the dynamic, a senior administration official said Saturday. Mr. Biden put more ideas on the table to help persuade Mr. Putin not to invade Ukraine, but officials were mum on how those proposals were received or if any of them were new. The U.S. official said the two leaders agreed to remain engaged, regardless of whether Moscow decides to invade Ukraine or not. [Continue reading…]

The New York Times reports:

The United States has picked up intelligence that Russia is discussing next Wednesday as the target date for the start of military action, officials said, acknowledging the possibility that mentioning a particular date could be part of a Russian disinformation effort.

The Ukrainian government urged calm, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that he had not seen intelligence indicating an imminent Russian attack, and that “too much information” about a possible offensive was sowing unnecessary fear.

The United States has ruled out sending troops to defend Ukraine, but it has increased deployments to NATO member countries in Eastern Europe. The Pentagon on Friday said it had ordered 3,000 more soldiers to Poland. [Continue reading…]