France urges de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine after tensions have intensified over the past 48 hours. France has strongly criticized Russia to approve the integration of Crimea in the Russian Federation and Paris

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said his government supports the European Union and NATO’s policies regarding Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula. “We stand together with the EU and NATO on Crimea,” Davutoglu said on March 18.

The Syrian air force bombed a northwest suburb of Damascus Wednesday, killing eight people and violated a truce that had been in place since October, activists said.