Kiev

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and US State Secretary John Kerry all visited Ukraine on Thursday in an effort to seek an urgently needed peaceful solution to the conflict ravaging the country.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to travel to Ukraine and Russia on Thursday and Friday in order to propose a new peace plan.

Hollande revealed at a pressconference on Thursday that the new peace proposal is based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which could be acceptable to all, the BBC reports.

NATO was set Feb. 5 to agree a major boost to its defences including six bases in eastern Europe and a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to what it called Russian aggression in Ukraine.
      

Russia's proposal to pump gas to the Turkish-Greek border and from 2019 to cease using Ukraine as its main energy transit route to Europe is in breach of legally binding contracts and is economically flawed, the EU's energy chief said on late Feb. 4.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were due in Moscow Friday after getting Kiev's tentative backing for a crunch peace plan aimed at ending surging violence in Ukraine.
 

French President Francois Hollande said Feb. 5 he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would visit Kyiv and Moscow in a fresh push for peace in Ukraine, but warned diplomacy "cannot go on indefinitely".
      

Poroshenko calls on western countries to supply weapons

KIEV -- Petro Poroshenko has appealed to western states to provide military and technical help to the Ukrainian army in its war with the pro-Russian forces.

Hospital comes under fire in Donetsk

DONETSK -- A hospital in the town of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has come under artillery fire, with at least 15 people feared killed in the attack.

This information came from the local authorities in the pro-Russian forces stronghold that has been under fire from Ukrainian government forces.

Germany will not supply weapons to Ukraine government forces, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday.

Instead, Germany prefers to seek a diplomatic solution to the fighting between Kiev government troops and the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine

The question of providing direct military assistance to Kiev government forces has drawn increased attention from the US administration and military officials after pro-Russian rebels recently stepped up their attacks in eastern Ukraine, according to a new article published in the New York Times.