US: Over 130,000 Russian troops now staged outside Ukraine

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, JIM HEINTZ and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some airlines have canceled flights to the capital of Ukraine and troops there have unloaded fresh shipments of weapons from NATO members. Ukraine’s president on Sunday sought to project confidence in the face of U.S. warnings of possible invasion within days by a growing number of Russian forces. Aides to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden say the two leaders spoke for about an hour on Sunday. Zelenskyy insisted that Ukrainians have the country under “safe and reliable protection” against feared attack by a far stronger Russian military. The White House said both agreed to keep pushing deterrence and diplomacy to try to stave off a Russian offensive.