President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is calling on Ukrainians to fly the country's flags from buildings and sing the national anthem in unison on February 16, a date that some Western media have cited as a possible start of a Russian invasion.
Ukrainian officials stressed that Zelenskiy was not predicting an attack on that date, but responding with scepticism to foreign media reports. Several Western media organisations have quoted US and other officials citing the date as when Russian forces would be ready for an attack.
"They tell us February 16 will be the day of the attack. We will make it a day of unity," Zelenskiy said in a video address to the nation on Modnay.
"They are trying to frighten us by yet again naming a date for the start of military action," Zelenskiy said. "On that day, we will hang our national flags, wear yellow and blue banners, and show the whole world our unity."
Zelenskiy has long said that - while he believes Russia is threatening his country - the likelihood of an imminent attack has been overstated by Ukraine's Western allies, responding to Moscow's efforts to intimidate Ukraine and sow panic.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy's chief of staff, told Reuters the president was responding in part "with irony" to media reports of the potential date of the invasion.
Zelenskiy's office released the text of a decree calling for all villages and towns in Ukraine to fly the country's flags on Wednesday, and for the entire nation to sing the national anthem at 10am. It also called for an increase in salaries of soldiers and border guards.
US officials said they were not predicting an assault ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on a specific day, but repeated warnings it could come at any time.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington, which has already sent most of its diplomats home, was moving its remaining diplomatic mission in Ukraine from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv, much further from the Russian frontier. He cited a "dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces".
Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near the border of Ukraine. It denies Western accusations that it is planning an invasion, but says it could take unspecified "military-technical" action unless a range of demands are met, including barring Kyiv from ever joining the NATO alliance.
Russia suggested on Monday that it was ready to keep talking to the West to try to defuse the security crisis.
In a televised exchange, Putin was shown asking his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, whether there was a chance of an agreement to address Russia's security concerns, or whether it was just being dragged into tortuous negotiations.
Lavrov replied: "We have already warned more than once that we will not allow endless negotiations on questions that demand a solution today."
But he added: "It seems to me that our possibilities are far from exhausted ... At this stage, I would suggest continuing and building them up."
Western countries have threatened sanctions on an unprecedented scale if Russia does invade. The Group of Seven large economies warned on Monday of "economic and financial sanctions which will have massive and immediate consequences on the Russian economy".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he still believed "from his own analysis, his own hopes" that there would not be a conflict, a spokesperson said.
Moscow says Ukraine's quest to join NATO poses a threat. While NATO has no immediate plans to admit Ukraine, Western countries say they cannot negotiate over a sovereign country's right to form alliances.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks in Kyiv with Zelenskiy. On Tuesday, Scholz is due to fly to Moscow, the latest Western official to make the trip after French President Emmanuel Macron and two British ministers went last week.
Scholz said he saw "no reasonable justification" for Russia's military activity on Ukraine's border, and that "we are ready for a serious dialogue with Russia on European security issues".
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