Pro-Russian separatists are building up forces and weapons in Ukraine's south east and the Ukrainian military said on Saturday it was braced for the possibility of a rebel attack on the port city of Mariupol.

• February 21, 2015

The European Union and Britain "sleepwalked" into the Ukraine crisis, failing to grasp its exceptional nature and lacking the ability to read political shifts in Russia, British lawmakers said in a report on Friday.

• February 20, 2015

Greece's leftist prime minister said on Friday he was certain euro zone finance ministers would accept Athens' request for an extended loan but Germany demanded "significant improvements" in Greek reform commitments.

• February 20, 2015

Kiev accused Russia on Friday of sending more tanks and troops into eastern Ukraine and said they were heading towards the rebel-held town of Novoazovsk on the southern coast, expanding their presence on what could be the next key battlefront.

• February 20, 2015

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed to monitor a ceasefire in east Ukraine, a proposal that pro-Russia rebels swiftly said would be in breach of a peace deal.

• February 19, 2015

Greece's government said it was up to euro zone finance ministers to decide whether to accept or reject its proposal to extend a loan agreement, in a bid to play down German comments rejecting the proposal as insufficient.

• February 19, 2015

China's creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea is happening so fast that Beijing will be able to extend the range of its navy, air force, coastguard and fishing fleets before long, much to the alarm of rival claimants to the contested waters.

• February 19, 2015

Moldova's parliament is expected on Wednesday to approve as prime minister 38-year-old businessman Chiril Gaburici, who promises to forge closer ties with Europe, despite fears of a possible Russian backlash.

• February 18, 2015