War, peace, stalemate? Week ahead may decide Ukraine’s fate

By MATTHEW LEE and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even if a Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn’t happen in the next few days, the crisis is reaching a critical inflection point. And European stability and the future of East-West relations hang in the balance. A convergence of events over the coming week could determine whether the stalemate is resolved peacefully or Europe is at war. In the week ahead, Washington and NATO are expecting Moscow’s formal response after they rejected its main security demands. Also major Russian military drills in Belarus are to end. At the same time, the Winter Olympics in China, often cited as a potential deterrent to immediate Russian action, will conclude Feb. 20.