Ukraine's war: The human cost

· 5,358 people killed and 12,235 wounded in eastern Ukraine

· Fatalities include 298 people on board flight MH17 shot down on 17 July

· 224 civilians killed in three-week period leading up to 1 February

· 5.2 million people estimated to be living in conflict areas

· 921,640 internally displaced people within Ukraine, including 136,216 children

· 600,000 fled to neighbouring countries of whom more than 400,000 have gone to Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to brief US President Barack Obama in Washington later on Monday on the peace plan Germany and France have tried to reach with Ukraine and Russia.

The Washington talks come as the US considers sending weapons to the Ukrainian government.

There is pressure in Washington on President Obama to adopt a tougher stance, the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan reports from the US capital.

Some officials, as well as senior Republicans such as Senator John McCain, argue that some form of military support is necessary, our correspondent adds.

But Mrs Merkel told a security conference at the weekend that she could not "imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily".

US Secretary of State John Kerry has denied any rift with EU leaders, saying, "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together."

Mrs Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have been leading efforts to revive the Minsk peace plan, which collapsed amid fighting over the winter.

The detailed proposals have not been released but the plan is thought to include a demilitarised zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.

'Artificial choice'

At the start of a visit to Egypt, President Putin renewed his attack on Western countries for their "hollow" promises not to expand Nato to include former Soviet countries, and therefore ignoring Russian interests.

There had been attempts, Mr Putin told Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper, "to tear states which had been parts of the former USSR [Soviet Union] off Russia and to prompt them to make an artificial choice 'between Russia and Europe'.

"We repeatedly warned the US and its Western allies about harmful consequences of their interference in Ukrainian domestic affairs but they did not listen to our opinion," the Russian leader said.

He went on to accuse them of supporting a "coup d'etat in Kiev" - a reference to the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last year.

He lost power amid protests over his decision to scrap a deal that would have seen Ukraine establish closer ties with the European Union.

Since then, Russia has annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and rebels in the east have sought to establish full control over the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.005 сек.