Jan. 27 2022 Ukraine-Russia border crisis

“As we continue our relentless pursuit of diplomacy to de-escalate tensions in the face of this serious threat to European and global peace and security, the UN Security Council is a crucial venue for diplomacy," she added.From CNN's Kaitlan CollinsPresident Biden's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky lasted for an hour and 20 minutes Thursday, highlighting the extensive issues the two leaders had to discuss amid a Russian troop buildup on Ukraine's border.A national security official described the call as "long and serious" but "productive," as Biden and Zelensky discussed Russia's recent aggressions.Biden told Zelensky that US officials feel an invasion could potentially happen in February but did not say that it definitely would, the official said. Here is the White House readout of President Biden's call with Ukrainian President Zelensky.From CNN's Lauren FoxAs Republican and Democratic senators continue to make progress in their efforts to put together a comprehensive Russian sanctions bill, a pair of sources are telling CNN the bill could be ready by the time lawmakers return to work next week.The bill would include robust economic and technological sanctions against Russia as well as provisions to provide Ukraine with additional weapons support and supplies.Lawmakers are looking to bridge the long-held divide between Republicans and Democrats as to when sanctions ought to be deployed. Since that time, members have been communicating in smaller groups with another potential meeting possible by the end of the week.The same member told CNN there will probably be some mention of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the legislation, but the negotiators are being careful not to relitigate the bitter disagreements between the two parties on that issue.It’s also not clear at this point whether the administration will back the bill the senators are working on.From CNN's Michael ConteThe Defense Department said that the buildup of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border has increased “in the last 24 hours.”Kirby said the buildup has been “not dramatic,” but “also not sclerotic.” From CNN’s Arnaud Siad, Ben Kirby and Emmet LyonsEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to sanctions — including killing the mooted Nord Stream 2 pipeline and removing Russia from SWIFT, a high security network that connect thousands of financial institutions around the world — should Moscow invade Ukraine.“I want to be very clear — nothing is off of the table,” von der Leyen told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview when pressed on whether the EU would axe the prospective energy deal.