BBC Online :
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called on Russia to show “within hours” it is working to disarm separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
He was speaking to reporters in Paris a day before a shaky ceasefire was due to end in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Russia denies it has let pro-Moscow separatists and heavy weaponry cross its border into eastern Ukraine.
The US and EU are threatening to impose further sanctions if Russia does not do more to defuse the situation.
Separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk have declared independence.
Despite the truce between Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian rebels, there have been several outbreaks of violence. On Tuesday, a Ukrainian helicopter was shot down with the loss of nine lives.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin held lengthy talks by phone with the leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France on Wednesday and they were expected to speak again on Thursday ahead of a key European Union summit.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko is set to sign a far-reaching free trade deal in Brussels on Friday as part of an EU association agreement.
The crisis in Ukraine dates back to last November, when President Viktor Yanukovych decided not to sign the agreement at the last minute, opting instead for closer ties with Moscow.
After months of protests, he eventually fled the country and was deposed as president.
Russia then moved to annex Ukraine’s Crimea region and pro-Russia separatists took over key buildings in dozens of eastern cities, claiming that extremists had taken power in Kiev.
