International affairs editor Dominic Waghorn and our team of specialist correspondents answered your questions on the Ukraine crisis in a live digital Q&A.
Wednesday 23 February 2022 08:56, UK
You submitted more than 2,600 questions and our correspondents Dominic Waghorn, Diana Magnay, Joe Pike, Ian King and Tom Cheshire tried to answer as wide a selection as possible.
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There is always that danger. Russia has made threatening moves elsewhere, sailing landcraft near Sweden, for instance.
On the face of it no one wants this conflict to spread but there is always the law of unintended consequences and mistakes and misunderstandings escalating into an expanded conflict, as has happened in wars in the past.
What impact do you think this will have on energy prices? With Russia supplying most of the EU with gas will this cause another surge in prices as those countries scramble to find other supplies?
Russia's aggression towards Ukraine has already driven the price of oil close to $100 per barrel 鈥� a level that, given the current strength of demand for oil and gas, is likely to be hit in coming days.
The dependence of many European countries on Russian gas may also contribute to upward pressure on commodity prices as they seek alternative supplies from elsewhere. They are likely to seek to make up shortfalls by liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from suppliers such as the US, Qatar and Australia 鈥� although these will take time to reach Europe and some European countries, notably Germany, lack the facilities needed to land LNG cargoes.
Nor can much respite be expected by greater production from the OPEC cartel of oil producing nations. Apart from Saudi Arabia, most are already struggling to increase production in line with the cartel's recent increases in quotas.
Only a breakthrough in the negotiations between the US and Iran over the latter's nuclear ambitions, which would see more Iranian crude released onto the market, would significantly change things.
Higher oil prices essentially represent a tax on growth. They will certainly feed through to inflation remaining at an elevated level for longer.
This is a question lots of you put forward and has been tackled by our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes here...
With Putin effectively annexing more of Ukraine, will sanctions be enough to stop Russia? Is diplomacy still an option?
The West's bet was that the threat of sanctions would be enough to deter Russian aggression. Western leaders now believe Putin has decided he will invade. That means that gamble has failed.
The West must now come up with plan B.
The diplomatic track is narrowing by the hour. Putin's recognition of the breakaway republics effectively kills of the Minsk peace process.
And the more aggressive action taken by Russia and the more sanctions put in place in response by the West, the less likely diplomacy is to succeed.
Unless Putin is doing all of this only to maximise his leverage in talks with the West. That is looking less likely as the days go on.
If Putin does invade Ukraine, how likely is it he will turn his sights to former Soviet Union countries such as Latvia and Estonia? How far would he have to go in order to provoke a military response from NATO?
This is unlikely as both countries are in NATO and a Russian NATO clash could lead to World War III.
Putin regards Ukraine as part of greater Russia but has no such claims to the Baltic nations.
Other than sanctions, is the UK powerless to stop Putin doing whatever he wants? What else are/can we do?
Labour's Keir Starmer and many Conservative backbenchers have called for further military options to be explored. So far the UK government has sent troops (now withdrawn) to train the Ukrainian army, and supplied them with defensive weapons.
Senior Conservative Tobias Ellwood believes the supply of offensive weaponry is now "not just an option, it's a requirement".
There has also been pressure from opposition parties for Ofcom to strip Kremlin-backed TV channel RT of its broadcasting license. German authorities made a similar step earlier this month, but Moscow would likely retaliate by expelling UK journalists from Russia.
Others want the country to be prevented from hosting the Champions League final, due to take place in Saint Petersburg in May.
Germany's pausing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is perhaps the most significant step to punish Vladimir Putin because of the likely impact on the Russian economy.
The danger, however, with sanctions is they push Moscow further away from the West and towards the East, meaning Mr Putin may develop yet closer relations with Beijing.
Why is Putin doing this?
He says he is doing it because the break up of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 21st century for the Russian people. And he has written extensively about how Russians and Ukrainians are one people.
He says Ukraine is run by a Western puppet regime and neo-Nazis. His critics say this is more about keeping himself in power. He fears a people power revolution like Ukraine's and the emergence of a more prosperous democracy and how that might encourage Russians to want the same.
He has been very successful in conjuring up false enemies and manipulating the fear of them to maintain his grip on power.
Is there an option for the West to send "peacekeeping" troops in to the rest of Ukraine to deter further incursions? Play Putin at his own game? It may allow time for further negotiations.
America has ruled out deploying NATO troops. Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated that over the weekend, saying Ukraine is not a part of NATO and therefore not entitled to NATO's one for all, all for one protection.
But critics, including members of the prime minister's own party, say that is an excuse.
They say NATO's principles of freedom and democracy are under threat and NATO has acted in non-member countries before, like Libya and Kosovo.
That argument, however, has not prevailed.
I'm scared and worried - I'm 16 and live in the UK. I have never been more worried in my life
It is a worrying time but we should keep it in perspective. The conflict is likely to remain confined to Ukraine and Russia in terms of actual fighting.
US President Joe Biden has ruled out sending troops even to shepherd American citizens out of Ukraine because he said if Russians and Americans end up fighting that would be World War III.
There is no appetite for NATO to become involved militarily. Also, bear in mind there is an information war going on with both sides trying to intimidate the other.
A lot of the stark warnings we are hearing from our own government should be seen in that light. What we might want to worry about more is the impact on energy prices. Your parents are likely to pay even more for gas and electricity because of this crisis.
Chris M :