06/03/2014 09:27
Ukraine crisis: EU leaders to hold emergency talks
EU leaders are to begin an emergency summit to decide how strongly they should respond to Russia's troop deployment in Ukraine's Crimea region, the BBC reported.
Some members, particularly from Eastern Europe, press for tough sanctions, but others - led by Germany - stress mediation as way out of the crisis.
The Brussels summit comes a day after high-level talks with Russia in Paris ended without significant progress.
Pro-Russian forces are in de facto control of Crimea.
A tense stand-off continued overnight across the southern region, where Ukrainian troops remain blockaded in their bases.
The leaders of the 28-member EU block are expected to open the emergency meeting at 10:30 GMT.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is hoping that in alliance with Sweden, Poland and other Eastern European countries he can persuade their colleagues of the need for Russian President Vladimir Putin to pay a price for the occupation of Crimea, the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson reports.
They will push not just for the suspension of EU-wide agreements with Russia on visa free travel and energy, but also the explicit threat - though not the implementation - of targeted sanctions, he adds.
However, other countries - led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel - are believed to be pushing for mediation as the best way out of the escalating crisis.