Merkel and Hollande to travel to Ukraine and Russia for peace talks

Source: The Telegraph

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president François Hollande have launched a fresh diplomatic effort to ease the Ukraine crisis, announcing a surprise visit to Kiev on Thursday and Moscow on Friday.

Mr Hollande and Mrs Merkel were expected in Kiev after US secretary of state John Kerry arrived for talks with Ukraine's leaders.

As the European leaders set out on the biggest peace push so far to end the near 10-month conflict, at least 19 people were killed in fresh clashes as the separatists push deeper into government-held territory.

"Peace is threatened at the frontiers of Europe. There is heavy weaponry in Ukraine, artillery fire, hospitals targeted. In the space of a few months, we have moved from a dispute to a conflict and from a conflict to war. We are now in a war, a war that can be total," the French president warned.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11392205/Merkel-and-Hollande-to-travel-to-Ukraine-and-Russia-for-peace-talks.html