Russia will hold live-fire naval drills off the coast of Ireland next month, Moscow has announced amid rapidly escalating tensions with the West. 

Battleships will take part in sea drills around 150 miles off Ireland's southwest coast, within the country's 'exclusive economic zone' but outside its territorial waters.

Foreign Minister Simon Coveney revealed on Monday that Russia informed Ireland about the drills at the weekend, saying the warships are 'not welcome' but his country 'doesn't have the power to stop this from happening'.

Under UN conventions governing the oceans, military drills are allowed within the economic zones of other states provided they do not stray into territorial waters.

The drill will form part of much broader Russian naval exercises involving 140 ships and 10,000 troops from all of its naval fleets that will take place in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, North Sea and Sea of Okhotsk from January until February.

It comes against the backdrop of Russia's troop build-up on the border of Ukraine, which has sparked fears of a war in Europe and a standoff between East and West.

Amid fears that an invasion is imminent, the UK began withdrawing diplomats from its mission in Kiev today - following a similar US move at the weekend. 

Elsewhere today...

• Joe Biden was considering plans to deploy up to 5,000 US troops to the Baltic region which could ramp up to 50,000 along with warships and aircraft
• NATO deployed additional ships, troops and warplanes to the Baltics, following a call from Latvia's foreign minister for teknisi kece 'countermeasures' against Russia
• The Kremlin condemned NATO's deployments,  accusing the West of spreading 'hysteria' over a war in Ukraine - which he said is now more likely than even due to weapons shipments to the region
• Boris Johnson warned Putin that invading Ukraine would be a 'disastrous step' and a 'painful, violent and bloody business' 
• EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to put on united front against Russia, saying 'never-before-seen' sanctions await if it invades Ukraine
• Ursula von der Leyen, EU commission president, said £1billion euro aid package is being prepared for Ukraine 
• US said families of its diplomatic staff in Ukraine have been ordered to leave, and non-essential employees have been offered flights home
• Australia began withdrawing families of diplomats based in Kiev, told its citizens to leave, and opened talks with Ukraine about defending against cyber attacks