German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Fran?ois Hollande will hold face-to-face talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Moscow in a bold attempt to break the diplomatic deadlock over Ukraine.
A senior EU official suggested the initiative was prompted in part by concerns that momentum in Washington was shifting towards supplying defensive weapons such as anti-tank missiles to Ukraine — a move both Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande oppose.
The German and French leaders flew into Kiev on Thursday to discuss the new plan with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president, before heading to Russia. The talks came hours after Mr Poroshenko met US secretary of state John Kerry in the Ukrainian capital.