News Digest

Ukraine crisis: Hollande and Merkel in talks as U.S. considers sending arms

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are due in Moscow for talks aimed at ending the 10-month conflict in Ukraine. The pair will try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign up to a peace plan as part of their biggest push yet to halt the crisis. It follows a meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who said discussions had raised “hope for a ceasefire”. The West sees Mr Putin as the orchestrator of rebels who have taken territory in eastern Ukraine - something the Kremlin denies.

The president is reviewing all of his options. Among those options is the possibility of providing defensive systems to Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande say their new initiative is “based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine” - though few details have been made public. Several previous peace deals have collapsed. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Mr Putin was ready to hold constructive talks with European leaders and Russia would “do everything it can” to help resolve the crisis. But the spokesman added that Ukraine was using weapons that had effects similar to those of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also visited Kiev and revealed that President Barack Obama was considering arming Ukraine.

[NATO will now] be able to defend all allies against any threat, from the east or from the south.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg