Boris Johnson has issued a dire warning about the situation in Ukraine, saying it is now ‘very, very dangerous.’

The Prime Minister has urged Vladimir Putin to step back from ‘the edge of a precipice’ amid warnings he could be ‘days away’ from ordering an invasion.

During a visit to Scotland, the PM said the ‘evidence is pretty clear’ that Russia plans to attack, despite repeated assurances from the Kremlin that it has no such intentions.

Hundreds of thousands of troops have massed on the Ukrainian border in the past few months and the PM said there are ‘all sorts of other signs that show that there are serious preparations’ going on.

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Speaking to reporters, he said: ‘This is a very, very dangerous, difficult situation, we are on the edge of a precipice but there is still time for President (Vladimir) Putin to step back.’

He called for more dialogue and urged Russia to avoid a ‘disastrous’ invasion.

Diplomatic efforts to avert what could be the biggest crisis in eastern Europe in decades have been ongoing, with the German chancellor Olaf Scholz on his way to Moscow to try to persuade Mr Putin to back down.

The US, UK and other European nations have told their citizens to leave the country and Washington is also pulling most of its staff from the embassy in Kyiv.

Mr Johnson is planning a trip to Europe later this week but has not committed to travelling to Moscow himself for talks.

Asked today if he plans to meet with Mr Putin, he said: ‘I’m going to be doing everything I can to help the diplomatic process. I’ll be talking to various leaders, including Joe Biden, very soon.’

He said the Russian leader needs to understand that he will face severe the economic and political consequences if he launches an invasion.

Mr Johnson added that the world ‘needs to learn the lesson of 2014’ – when Russian annexed the Crimea from Ukraine – and countries should move away from using Russian gas and oil in favour of alternative sources of energy.

The crisis hinges on whether Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato and therefore further align itself with the west.

Moscow wants guarantees from Nato that it will not accept Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members.

It also wants the alliance to halt weapon deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.

The US and Nato have flatly rejected these demands although reports overnight suggested the Ukrainian government itself may be willing to accept a compromise and suspend its bid for Nato membership.

Resolving this issue is seen as key to de-escalating tensions in the region but Mr Johnson stressed that Ukraine’s future should not be ‘bargained away’.

He said: ‘I think it’s very important that we have a conversation, but what we can’t do is trade away the sovereign rights of the Ukrainians who aspire to Nato membership.

“That’s something that was a massive gain for our world. If you remember what happened in 1990, you had a Europe whole and free, countries could decide their own futures. We can’t bargain that away. It’s for the Ukrainian people.”

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