Putin meets Xi Jinping as U.S. warns of Russian plan to escalate Ukraine crisis

U.S. officials, meanwhile, announced visa restrictions on Belarusian officials whom they accused of “serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activity.” They highlighted efforts to crack down on Belarusian athletes who spoke out once morest President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally who has been hosting Russian troops for a military exercise. Western officials fear that those same Russian troops might be part of an attack into neighboring Ukraine.