Europe

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are to hold a high-stakes telephone call on Saturday as tensions over a possibility imminent invasion of Ukraine escalated sharply and the U.S. announced plans to evacuate its embassy in the Ukrainian capital.

Before talking to Biden, Putin is to have a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with him in Moscow earlier in the week to try to resolve the crisis.

Washington, Feb 12 (AP) The United States is set to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent.

U.S. officials say the State Department plans to announce early Saturday that all American staff at the Kyiv embassy will be required to leave the country ahead of a feared Russian invasion. The State Department would not comment.

DONETSK, February 11. /TASS/: More than 130 mass graves of civilians that were killed during Ukraine’s aggression were found in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed republic, said at a news conference on Friday.

"On the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic alone, more than 130 mass graves of the victims of the Ukrainian aggression were found and opened," he said. "They are mass graves of civilians that were killed during operations by Ukraine’s armed forces in the DPR in Snezhnoye, Debaltsevo, Khartsyzsk and Ilovaisk."

MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 203,949 over the past day to 13,731,794, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 1.5%.

MINSK, February 11. /TASS/: Russian Su-35S fighters and Belarusian Su-30SM fighter jets practiced intercepting intruder aircraft during flights near Baranovichi in the Brest Region of Belarus in the Union Resolve 2022 joint drills, the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

"In the air, the pilots practiced several elements: intercepting an intruder aircraft and conducting an aerial battle," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/: Russia cannot accept the collective response of the EU and NATO to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s message on the indivisibility of security, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Friday.

MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/: The situation on the European continent is becoming increasingly tense, and it is not Russia’s fault, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during the meeting with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace Friday.

"I am happy to welcome you in Moscow, in the Russian Defense Ministry. The military and political situation in Europe is becoming increasingly tense. And it is not our fault at all. We do not entirely and not always understand the reasons behind the escalation of those tensions. Still, we see that the tensions are growing," Shoigu said.

VIENNA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Austria is sticking with its opposition to including the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in a package of sanctions against Moscow that the European Union is preparing in the event Russia invades Ukraine, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Friday.

Austrian oil company OMV (OMVV.VI) is one of Russian gas giant Gazprom's partners in the pipeline project connecting Russia to Germany, which has been completed but is not yet operational as it is awaiting German and EU regulatory approval. Austria owns 31.5% of OMV and backs the project.

KYIV, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Russia has withdrawn previously announced restrictions for ships in the Sea of Azov linked to naval drills in the area, Ukraine's sea port Authority said on Friday.

"The movement of ships by recommended routes to the seaports of Ukraine in the Sea of Azov is open," the Authority said in a report.

Ukraine, one of the world's leading exporters of steel, grain and sunflower oil, carries exports through ports on the Black and Azov Seas - Odessa, Pivdeny, Chornomorsk, Kherson, Mariupol and Berdyansk.

GENEVA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - An International Labour Organization committee has expressed "deep concern" about China's policies in its far western region of Xinjiang, calling them discriminatory and asking Beijing to bring its employment practices into line with global standards.

The report on the region, home to China's minority Muslim Uyghurs, risks stoking geopolitical tensions between China and the United States at a sensitive time for Beijing as it hosts the Winter Olympics.