Canada urges avoiding non-essential travel to Ukraine due to 'Russian aggression'

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's biggest national flag on the country's highest flagpole is seen at a compound of the World War II museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 16, 2021. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

(Reuters) - The Canadian government is urging its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Ukraine, in a new advisory citing "Russian aggression."

Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, and the United States said on Friday it feared Russia was preparing a pretext to invade if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives.