West steps up diplomatic efforts to avert Russian attack on Ukraine

Mr. Scholz, who has been in office since December, has been thrust to the center of negotiations between the U.S., Europe and Russia. He is following up on visits last week by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The trip comes amid increased alarm in the West after the U.S. warned at the weekend that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could take place in the middle of the week, a warning that sent financial markets in Europe swooning on Monday.

Russia has massed more than 130,000 troops and an array of military hardware at the border with Ukraine and in other territories surrounding the country, including Belarus. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied it has any intention of invading Ukraine.

Mr. Scholz’s trip follows a phone call between President Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Saturday and another between Mr. Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.

Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky the U.S. and its allies would respond quickly to any Russian aggression and warned Mr. Putin that his country would face “swift and severe costs" in the event of an invasion. An aide to Mr. Putin said in remarks posted on the Kremlin’s website that the call was requested by Mr. Biden as part of what he called a U.S. effort to stoke hysteria about an invasion.

Oil prices eased on Monday after initially soaring on fears that a war in Ukraine would choke supplies of Russian crude to the world at a time of relative scarcity.

Mr. Scholz is set to meet Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday before flying back to Berlin and taking off for Moscow on Tuesday for lunch with Mr. Putin.

Several Western countries have called on their nationals to leave Ukraine immediately because of the danger.

“We expect urgent signs of de-escalation from Moscow." Mr. Scholz tweeted on Monday. “A further military aggression would have severe consequences for Russia…We are seeing a very, very serious threat to peace in Europe."

Russian legislators said they could on Tuesday discuss resolutions urging Mr. Putin to formally recognize separatist-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states, Russian news agency TASS reported.

In 2014, Moscow fomented a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and later provided military support for them to cut two areas of the territory off from Kyiv’s control. Those areas—Donetsk and Luhansk—are largely unrecognized internationally as independent, and Ukrainian and Russia-backed forces there still trade fire. Western officials fear that Moscow—which says military activity in Donbas threatens Russian security—will use such activity as a pretext for an invasion.

Both the ruling United Russia party and the Communist Party have submitted draft resolutions calling on Mr. Putin to acknowledge the two regions’ sovereignty, TASS reported.

Warnings by the U.S. government that Russia could be prepared to invade Ukraine as early as Wednesday was met with concern but also some skepticism in Europe.

Intelligence could be interpreted in various ways, one German official said Sunday, while another said that the U.S. sources didn’t state that an invasion was certain but rather that there were indications it could happen.

“Our concern has grown, we are very worried and believe the situation is very critical and very dangerous, yet this is not a situation in which we would say: Now is the time for resignation," the German official said.

Officials close to Mr. Scholz said the goal of his trips is to show solidarity and support for Ukraine, as well as to try to explore potential areas of negotiation with Mr. Putin that would help defuse the standoff at the Ukrainian borders.

In Kyiv, Mr. Scholz is set to discuss a German initiative to provide a loan of 150 million euros, equivalent to $170 million, to Ukraine on favorable terms as part of a longstanding German policy of financial support for the country, to which Berlin has provided nearly €2 billion since 2014.

In Moscow, Mr. Scholz is set to also demonstrate that Western allies of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are united in their stance toward Moscow, German officials said, as well as offer substantial negotiations with the Russian president.

“The federal chancellor will emphasize that we are pushing for de-escalation and withdrawal of the amassed troops, that can only be seen as a threat, but also that we are ready to start a dialogue in which also Russia’s misgivings can be put on the table and discussed," a senior German government official said.

Mr. Scholz will also try to gain a better understanding of Mr. Putin’s goals and explore whether dialogue can be established both bilaterally as well as through international organizations such as NATO or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“To discuss all this and to see whether there is common ground for mutual steps, for a substantial dialogue [with Mr. Putin] is worth the trip from our point of view," the German official said.