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Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. and its western allies on Tuesday of ignoring Russia’s security concerns and deliberately creating a scenario designed to lure Russia into war. In his first direct public comments on the Ukraine crisis for nearly six weeks, a defiant Putin showed no sign of backing down from security demands that Western countries have called non-starters and possible excuses to launch an invasion. PUTIN: “We already can see…[FLASH] that fundamental Russian concerns were ignored." Russia is demanding that NATO halt any further enlargement, bar Ukraine from ever joining the alliance, and pull back forces and weaponry from eastern European countries. Putin said Washington is not primarily concerned with Ukraine's security, but with containing Russia. "That is the problem. In this context, Ukraine is just a tool to reach this goal. It can be reached by various means: by drawing us into a military conflict and making their European allies impose against us those tough sanctions the U.S. talks about today."Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and Western countries say they fear Putin may be planning to invade.Russia denies this but has said it could take unspecified military action unless its security demands are met. Western countries have rushed to show solidarity with Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and accused Putin of holding a gun to Ukraine's head to demand changes to the security architecture in Europe.He also warned that any Russian invasion would lead to a military and humanitarian disaster. "There are 200,000 men and women under arms in Ukraine, they will put up a very, very fierce and bloody resistance. I think that parents, mothers in Russia should reflect on that fact and I hope very much that President Putin steps back from the path of conflict and that we engage in dialog." Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly played down the prospect of an imminent invasion, signed a decree on Tuesday to boost his armed forces by 100,000 troops over three years.He urged lawmakers to stay calm and avoid panic, saying he had ordered the troop increase "not because we will soon have a war... but so that soon and in the future there will be peace in Ukraine."