Ukraine crisis: West must not create alarm, warns Turkish FM

The Turkish foreign minister insisted on Saturday that the West should not issue comments that may create alarm concerning the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking on TV, Mevlut Cavusoglu argued that a Russian invasion would be wrong, but it was important to prepare for any escalation, though Turkey remained calm.

It followed a recent claim from the US that Moscow could invade Ukraine "at any time".

Russia has gathered over 100,000 soldiers close to its border with Ukraine, causing concern it may seek to attack Kyiv once more.

Russia annexed its neighbour's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 in a move slammed by the international community.

Moscow rejected the suggestion it was readying an invasion and has alleged that Western states were threatening it through bringing former Soviet Union countries into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance.

Among other assurances it was seeking, Russia insisted the West restricted its presence in nearby countries and make a commitment that Ukraine and Georgia won't become part of NATO.