Ukrainian rebels are receiving new military equipment and troops trained in Russia, and will launch a major counter-offensive against government forces, a separatist leader said in a video released on Saturday.

• August 16, 2014

A meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French foreign ministers scheduled in Berlin on Sunday could be a first step towards a Ukraine-Russia peace summit along the lines of one that took place in Normandy last month, the French government said on Saturday.

• August 16, 2014

If Russia and Ukraine slide into outright war, the United States and allies will face tough choices on how to support a friendly state they have no intention of making a full NATO member.

• August 16, 2014

Ukraine said its artillery destroyed part of a Russian armored column that entered its territory overnight and said its forces came under shellfire from Russia on Friday in what appeared to be a major military escalation between the ex-Soviet states.

• August 15, 2014

European Union foreign ministers voiced concern on Friday at reports that Russian military vehicles had crossed into Ukraine overnight, but behind the tough talk there were signs that EU unity over sanctions against Moscow was fraying.

• August 15, 2014

Dozens of heavy Russian military vehicles massed on Friday near the border with Ukraine, while Ukrainian border guards crossed the frontier to inspect a huge Russian aid convoy

• August 15, 2014

Artillery shells hit close to the centre of Ukraine's separatist-held city of Donetsk for the first time on Thursday, killing at least one person, as a large Russian aid convoy rumbled towards the border.

• August 14, 2014

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would stand up for itself but not at the cost of confrontation with the outside world, a conciliatory note after months of tough rhetoric over the crisis in Ukraine.

• August 14, 2014