Nato leaders to meet Ukraine's Poroshenko ahead of summit

World leaders are due to meet Ukraine's president before the Nato summit gets under way in Wales.

President Petro Poroshenko will update US and EU leaders after discussions with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

France has ramped up the pressure on Mr Putin by axing its contract to deliver two navy assault ships to Russia.

The two-day Nato summit is expected to be dominated by the crisis in Ukraine, but leaders will also discuss the rise of Islamic State, and Afghanistan.

Mr Poroshenko will brief UK PM David Cameron, US President Barack Obama and the leaders of France, Italy and Germany, in what correspondents say is a clear show of support to Ukraine's leader.

On Wednesday, President Poroshenko said he had agreed a "ceasefire process" during telephone talks with Mr Putin, who said he hoped a peace deal could be reached when rebels meet envoys from both states on Friday.

But in an interview with the BBC, Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the ceasefire plan floated by Mr Putin was "insincere".

"I think the bottom line is that the Russians are not sincerely interested in a ceasefire. They continue to destabilize Eastern Ukraine," he said.

Key summit

The BBC's Bridget Kendall says the summit is Nato's most important for decades, with its leaders faced to ask if the alliance is really equipped to deal with 21st century challenges.

The alliance is expected to approve plans to create a rapid response force composed of several thousand troops from member states, able to deploy within 48 hours.

European leaders are also set to discuss a new round of tougher economic sanctions on Russia.

French President Francois Hollande signalled a toughening of European policy towards Russia on Wednesday by cancelling a military deal worth 1.2bn euros ($1.6bn; £0.95bn).

Mr Hollande's office blamed Russia's recent actions in Ukraine when it announced it was halting the delivery of the first of two Mistral navy assault ships.

(BBC News)

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