John Kerry

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.
      

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.
 

US Secretary of State John Kerry was due in Kyiv Feb. 5 for talks focussing on the possibility of arming Ukrainian forces, a day after four civilians were killed when a hospital in east Ukraine was shelled.
       

The Bulgarian government proposed an amendment to the Defence Act, which would allow for the stationing of the proposed NATO command centre in the country.

The bill will provide an international organisation functioning on the country's territory with the legal right to supplement its personnel with Bulgarian troops and citizens, Darik radio reports.

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.

Despite praising the defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in the Syrian town of Kobane on the Turkish border, the U.S. has rejected a visa request from Salih Müslim, the leader of the party behind the Kurdish militia who fought against the jihadists.

Iranian officials will meet with European members of the P5+1 group in Istanbul on Thursday under the ongoing diplomatic effort to secure a deal over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
      
The meeting with British, French and German diplomats was announced by Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham during a weekly press briefing in Tehran.
      

The Bulgarian Parliament rejected on Wednesday to include the proposal, which calls for limiting the extension of sanctions against Russia, for discussion in its weekly agenda.

The proposal of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was first rejected by the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee on January 21, daily Dnevnik reports.

Deputy foreign ministers from Iran, the U.K., France and Germany will gather in Istanbul on Jan. 29 to discuss Iran's nuclear program, according to an Iranian official.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to Iranian media, said Jan. 24's talks in the Swiss city of Zurich between representatives of the U.S. and the EU had been "constructive."