It is being reported in news coming from the Canadian Prime Minister's office that the US president, Joe Biden, will host a meeting on Ukraine on Friday with leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Britain, EU and NATO.

Meanwhile, following reports from yesterday, whereby both Ukrainian armed forces and separatists controlling parts of eastern Ukraine reported renewed shelling in the Donbas region, President Biden said he believes an invasion of Ukraine could happen "within the next several days." Additionally, there were videos and images confirmed by CNN that showed that a kindergarten was hit by a shell.

The US secretary of state was warning the UN that Russia is planning to manufacture a justification for an attack and has not withdrawn troops, all the while that US-Russia diplomatic tensions continue.

The latest there is from Russia expelling the second-most senior US diplomat in Moscow, a State Department official said, calling it an "escalatory" move.

CNN reports that ''the Kremlin sent a written response to US security proposals and said “increasing” US and NATO military activity close to their borders “is alarming,” according to Russia's formal response published by state media.''

Market implications

As for the reaction in US markets on Thursday, US stocks sank while gold prices jumped through $1,900 after reports of shelling in eastern Ukraine, with President Joe Biden saying Ukraine is at "very high" risk of invasion by Russia.