NATO was set Thursday to agree a major boost to its defences in eastern Europe including six bases and a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to what it called Russian aggression in Ukraine. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the moves likely to be approved by defence ministers …

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Thursday welcomed the visit by French President Francois Hollande with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with a new peace initiative amid escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine. “NATO fully supports all efforts to reach a negotiated peaceful solution to the conflict …

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel Thursday ruled out a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. “This issue is not going to be resolved militarily,” he told a press conference on the sidelines of a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels. “This issue , the Russian aggression in Ukraine has …