The Dutch government has advised its citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible due to the security situation, the Dutch radio broadcaster BNR said on Friday, citing the Dutch ambassador in Ukraine.

The Netherlands will move its diplomatic post from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine, BNR said.

It follows not long after Japan issued similar advice to its citizens.

Ben Wallace has told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu he hoped they could use their meeting in Moscow to resolve a number of issues through diplomacy after admitting relations were currently at “0 per cent”.

Speaking following talks in Moscow, the British defence secretary said: “I hope that by speaking today and starting that relationship, that was at 0 per cent, we can resolve a number of the issues that you’ve raised,” Wallace said at the start of their meeting.

“(That) we can address some of the issues raised in Russia’s draft treaty … and we can try and move on to where we can resolve our issues together through diplomacy, through other actions, and through confidence building measures.”

Russia’s troop build-up and military exercises on the border with Ukraine amount to an escalation, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said.

“On the military side we are not seeing any signs of de-escalation but rather the opposite. The Russian military build-up continues and in Belarus some 30,000 soldiers carried out military exercises, partly very close to the Ukrainian border,” Ms Baerbock said during a news conference in Amman, Jordan.

“This is why are preparing intensively for all scenarios, of course with close coordinations with our allies and with our partners in the European Union,” she added. “There is a red line and this is the sovereignty of Ukraine. We are preparing with all measures and with rigour but we are also simultaneously working for dialogue.”

Japan has called for its citizens to leave Ukraine amid the ongoing tension and fears of an invasion.

The Japanese foreign ministry said on Friday it had issued an advisory urging Japanese nationals to leave right away.

Join our free virtual event expert panel on Wednesday 23 February hosted by The Independent’s International Editor David Harding.

David will be joined by Deputy International Editor Kieran Guilbert, broadcaster Mary Dejevsky and Defence and Diplomatic Editor Kim Sengupta, who has been on the ground in Ukraine to discuss what’s happening and what could happen next.

The event will be hosted on Zoom on 23 February at 6.30pm GMT and will last one hour. It is free to attend.

Russia’s foreign ministry has claimed the joint Nato-EU response to the crisis has been disrespectful and lacking substance.

The ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had asked all member nations of the two blocs about their understanding of the principle of “indivisible security”, expecting an individual response from each country.

Instead he had received replies from the head of Nato and the EU foreign policy chief, to whom Mr Lavrov had not addressed the request.

“Such a step cannot be seen as anything other than a sign of diplomatic impoliteness and disrespect for our request,” the ministry said.

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia failed to reach a breakthrough due to Russia’s insistence that Ukraine talk directly to the so-called breakaway republics in the eastern Donbass region, Ukraine‘s Foreign Minister has said.

Ukrainian and Russian officials met in the German capital on Thursday for talks on ending the conflict. More meetings are expected soon.

“Russia insists that Ukraine conduct a direct dialogue with the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

“If Ukraine agrees to this, then the status of Russia will change from being a party to the conflict to the status of being a mediator in the conflict. That is why we do not go for it.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that an invasion could come “at any time”.

Speaking during a visit to Australia, he told a news conference: “We’re in a window when an invasion could begin at any time, and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics.”

The Beijing games end on 20 February.

“Simply put, we continue to see very troubling signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” Mr Blinken said.

Separately, President Joe Biden said he would not send troops to rescue US citizens in the event of a Russian assault.

“Things could go crazy quickly,” Mr Biden told NBC News.

Ukraine has said it expects four-way negotiations with Russia, Germany and France to happen more frequently after the latest round of talks took place in Berlin,

Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to Ukraine‘s president, said on Friday that all sides agreed on the need to maintain a ceasefire.

Ukrainian and Russian officials met in the German capital for talks on Thursday on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Finland will sign a multi-billion pound agreement on Friday to buy F-35 fighter jets, bringing 64 radar-evading warplanes to a country bordering Russia.

Finland, which was historically neutral during the Cold War, is a member of the EU but not of the Nato Western military alliance, though it says it aims to cooperate with Nato and retains the right to join.

It’s government said the decision to buy the advanced US jets, announced in December, was part of long-term plans to boost the country’s defences and not a response to the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

Agreements finalising the purchase of the jets would be signed on Friday with the US government and the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp, the ministry said.

“Yes, today it will be signed… It is a binding agreement that Finland will purchase the jets,” Lauri Puranen, director in charge of the purchase at Finland’s ministry of defence told Reuters. Finland has previously said the planes would begin to be deployed in 2027.