Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he expected that there would be a new round of talks on the Syria conflict following from a meeting of some opposition figures and the Damascus government in Moscow last month.

• February 10, 2015

The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine were due to attend a peace summit on Wednesday, but Ukraine's pro-Moscow separatists diminished the chance of a deal by launching some of the war's worst fighting in an assault on a government garrison.

• February 10, 2015

The European Union delayed putting more Ukrainian separatists and Russians on its sanctions list on Monday to give a Franco-German peace plan for Ukraine time to work.

• February 9, 2015

U.S. President Barack Obama made clear he was some way from a decision on whether to arm Ukraine in its conflict against Russian-backed rebels, saying on Monday he still hoped for a diplomatic solution.

• February 9, 2015

NATO and Russia failed to narrow their differences over the Ukraine crisis in talks on Saturday but agreed they would keep talking to each other.

• February 7, 2015

Germany's Angela Merkel warned on Saturday that sending arms to help Ukraine fight pro-Russian separatists would not solve the crisis there, drawing a sharp rebuke from a leading U.S. senator who accused Berlin of turning its back on an ally in distress.

• February 7, 2015

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov is the highest-profile target of new sanctions due to be formally endorsed by European Union foreign ministers on Monday, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

• February 6, 2015

NATO's top military commander, U.S. General Philip Breedlove, said on Friday the West should be ready to use "all tools in the tool bag" to help Ukraine fight pro-Russian separatists, though he did not specify if that should include arming Kiev.

• February 6, 2015