NATO‘s chief on Tuesday welcomed signals that Russia may be looking for a diplomatic solution amid a military build-up on Ukraine‘s border but urged Moscow to demonstrate its will to act.

“There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy should continue. This gives grounds for cautious optimism. But so far we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground from the Russian side,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Brussels.

“Russia has amassed a fighting force in and around Ukraine unprecedented since the cold war. Everything is now in place for a new attack. But Russia still has time to step back from the brink, stop preparing for war and start working for a peaceful solution”, Stoltenberg said, calling the current situation the “most serious security crisis we have faced in Europe for decades”.