Where do diplomatic efforts to resolve Ukraine impasse stand?

US soldiers cast shadows while walking during the visit of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase, near the Black Sea port city of Constanta, eastern Romania, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Stoltenberg paid an official visit to Romania on Friday, where he joined the country’s president Klaus Iohannis at a military airbase that will host some of the 1,000 U.S. troops deployed to the country as the alliance bolsters its forces on the eastern flank as tensions soar between Russia and Ukraine. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Diplomatic efforts to head off what western countries have warned could be an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine entered a new round on Monday, as Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin to continue talks and Germany’s chancellor met the Ukrainian president.

In an appearance orchestrated for TV cameras, Russia’s foreign minister argued that possibilities for talks have not been exhausted. That seemed designed to send a message that Mr Putin himself believes hopes for a diplomatic solution have not yet faded.