Pro-Russia separatists sat down for preliminary peace talks with Ukraine in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Monday saying they would be prepared to stay part of Ukraine if they were granted "special status", according to Russian news agencies.

• September 1, 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Monday of "direct and open aggression" which he said had radically changed the battlefield balance as Kiev's forces suffered a further reverse in the war with pro-Moscow separatists.

• September 1, 2014

China opposed additional sanctions against Russia on Monday over accusations Moscow was sending troops into Ukrainian territory, saying the European Union's push to draw up more measures would only complicate the crisis.

• September 1, 2014

European Union leaders will threaten Russia with new sanctions over Ukraine on Saturday but, fearful of a new Cold War and self-inflicted harm to their own economies, should give Moscow another chance to make peace.

• August 30, 2014

Hong Kong is poised for a showdown with China when the Chinese parliament meets later on Sunday, with the largely rubber-stamp body likely to snuff out hopes for a democratic breakthrough in the regional financial hub at elections due in 2017.

• August 30, 2014

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said China will spur military innovation and called on the army to create a new strategy for "information warfare" as the country embarks on military reform, state media said on Saturday.

• August 30, 2014

Poland and Ukraine refused permission for a plane carrying Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to use their airspace on Friday while returning home from a visit to Slovakia.

• August 29, 2014

The International Monetary Fund signed off on its first review of Ukraine's $17 billion loan program on Friday, but warned risks loomed ahead as long as Kiev continued to fight a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in the east.

• August 29, 2014