"Nato has announced it is stepping up its presence around Russian borders to reassure eastern European member states, in an effort also aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow before international talks on the Ukrainian crisis on Thursday in Geneva.
The EU and the US intend to tighten sanctions against Moscow after the four-party negotiations – involving foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraineand the US and the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton – if Moscow does not stop what the west allege is the deliberating stoking of tensions in eastern Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the US secretary of state, John Kerry, said his primary goal was to persuade Moscow to halt its destabilising activities in eastern Ukraine, and call publicly for separatist groups to disarm and stand down".
Source: theguardian
