EU threatens Russia sanctions as NATO backs Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to insisted that any decision on membership was a matter for Kiev and the alliance's 30 member states

Western allies on Thursday rejected Russia's bid to thwart Kiev's NATO ambitions and urged Moscow to halt its military build-up along Ukraine's border and return to talks led by France and Germany.

"Moscow does not want to return to the Normandy format and wants to negotiate with the United States," a senior European diplomat told AFP. The diplomatic track was established at a summit in Minsk in 2015 where Putin accepted that France and Germany should play the role of moderators in the talks between the two belligerents.