news, westminster. britain is prepared to deploy troops to protect nato allies in europe should russia invade ukraine. borisjohnson said vladimir putin would face ferocious ukrainian resistance. and tonight president biden said he d consider personal sanctions on mr putin if there were a russian invasion. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports. the might of the russian army on display in its ally belarus, ukraine s northern neighbour, where military exercises are planned next month. moscow has been building up troops on ukraine s eastern border, too, and fears of a new war in europe are growing. the kremlin is still denying it ll invade, president putin keeping the world guessing about what his intentions really are. if russia invades ukraine, we would look to contribute to any new nato deployments to protect our allies in europe. but if president putin were to choose the path
of bloodshed and destruction, he must realise that it would be both tragic and futile. russia s now amassed around 100,000 troops near its border with ukraine, leading to huge international concern. moscow used to control much of the region, but many countries have sincejoined nato, the military alliance of european and north american countries of which the uk is also a part. and president putin has demanded that ukraine never be allowed to join nato. so the west is now ramping up its response, the defensive counter build up growing by the day. warships and fighterjets from several nato members are now heading to eastern europe. this is american military equipment and munitions arriving in kyiv. it s been called lethal aid . the us has now put 8,500 troops on alert to deploy at short notice if they need to. russia s also been threatened with unprecedented economic sanctions which could target president putin himself, the us says, if he does give
republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria and relived their horrifying experiences. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: police launch an investigation into whether parties at downing street violated coronavirus rules. a spokesman says borisjohnson didn t think he had broken the law. let s return to our top story. it s no surprise that the news here in britain is currently dominated by the two inquiries into whether a series of gatherings at downing street and across government broke strict covid restrictions, but how is the row over lockdown parties and prime minister borisjohnson s level of involvement in them
institutional memory of how he got to this point is a huge liability. and frankly it s a challenge for the united states as well. like britain, the us russian relationship is in tatters and there are very few interlocutors who are dealing with an intense basis who are dealing with putin s inner circle, that is a real challenge fuligni as we head into what could be a very dangerous phase in this crisis in mid february later. can dangerous phase in this crisis in mid-february later.- in mid-february later. can i turn your in mid-february later. can i turn your attention - in mid-february later. can i turn your attention to - in mid-february later. can i. turn your attention to domestic politics in the us as well, we have mid terms and we also have a bite who was playing hardball after a fashion and we have got donald trump who could quite easily be saying look, once again, the europeans a soft paddling, we are expected to pick up the pieces in a faraway part of the world, and that play
this ridge of high pressure building in. that could allow for some frost and some fog, but there s another frontal system approaching from the west. that ll be freshening up the winds as we go through the day, particularly across northern ireland and scotland. rain getting into north west scotland. in fact, some quite heavy rain through the north west highlands. further south and east, increasing amounts of cloud. best of the sunshine in eastern counties. eight or nine degrees along the east coast of england. more like ten or 11 for western parts of the uk. the weekend looks unsettled and changeable. some rain at times, but not all the time. could be quite windy and generally, particularly on saturday, very mild.