INTERNATIONAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a statement on Tuesday ,February 1, he is hopeful that a dialogue on Ukraine would continue in order to avoid "negative scenarios" including war.

In his first direct public comments on the Ukraine crisis for nearly six weeks, a defiant Putin has showed no sign of backing down from security demands that Western countries have called non-starters and a possible excuse to launch an invasion.

President Vladimir Putin has described a potential future scenario in which Ukraine was admitted to NATO and then attempted to recapture the Crimea peninsula, a territory Russia has seized in 2014.

Putin has said ; "Let's imagine Ukraine is a NATO member and starts these military operations. Are we supposed to go to war with the NATO bloc?"

Putin was speaking at a news conference with the visiting prime minister of Hungary, one of several NATO leaders trying to intercede with him as the crisis has escalated.

Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, and Western countries say they fear Putin may be planning to invade.

Russia denies this but has said it could take unspecified military action unless its security demands are met. Western countries say any invasion would bring sanctions on Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday that it was time for Moscow to withdraw its troops if it is sincerely not intending to invade, said a senior State Department official.