The United States will in coming days lay out its planned “next steps” in the tense standoff with Russia, after intense diplomacy failed to ease the threat of a new conflict over Ukraine, a senior official said Sunday, writes barrons.com.

Amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the US was “ready either way”.

“We’re in close touch with our allies and partners, including the Ukrainians”, - the top advisor to President Joe Biden told CBS. “We’re coordinating closely on next steps. And we’ll have more to share in terms of the next steps into the diplomacy early next week”.

“But the key point here is that we’re ready either way. If Russia wants to move forward with diplomacy, we are absolutely ready to do that in lockstep with our allies and partners.

If Russia wants to go down the path of invasion and escalation, we’re ready for that too, with a robust response”.