The Minister for Foreign Affairs says war in Ukraine is not inevitable.
His comments come as Germany's new chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Kyiv today to meet with the President before travelling to Moscow to warn Vladimir Putin of the "heavy consequences" of an invasion.
Simon Coveney said he is cautiously optimistic that war can be avoided.
"I think war can be averted, but we also have to be realistic that it is a very real possibility.
"We have to be prepared for how we would respond to that, and certainly over the weekend, I would not have given the instruction to change the travel advice to ask all our citizens in Ukraine to leave immediately if I wasn't concerned."
