Hollande called for a “real ceasefire” that would lead to a broader political agreement, and said France would only deliver warships worth 1.2 billion euros to Russia in November if these conditions were in place.
There was little sign of change on the ground, with AFP reporters hearing explosions on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Mariupol and renewed shelling and gunfire in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also lashed out, denying Russian involvement and accusing the United States of undermining peace efforts by supporting “a pro-war party” in Kiev.
He said Washington was “drunk on anti Russian rhetoric” after repeated accusations from the West that Russia is training and supplying rebels and sending its soldiers into Ukraine.
– Mass Iraq kidnapping –
Ukraine tops the agenda at the two day talks, but the 28 NATO leaders must also tackle the menace of Islamist extremists in Iraq and Syria, and a problematic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Cameron and Obama said in an editorial in the Times that they would not be “cowed” following the beheading of two US journalists by Islamic State (IS) jihadists, and promised to “confront” the radicals.
There were reports of fresh brutality on that front.
Police and witnesses said IS kidnapped dozens of residents of a village in Kirkuk province after locals there burned one of its positions along with a jihadist flag.
Rasmussen said NATO would “seriously” examine any request from Iraq for help in its campaign against the Islamic State, while Cameron said Britain was actively considering arming the Kurds.
NATO meanwhile faces another quandary in Afghanistan, where the alliance is due to end its combat operation this year, but finds it has no government to hand over to as presidential elections have failed to produce a winner.
Rasmussen warned that time was running out for a solution, raising doubts about NATO’s planned post-2014 training mission after it formally concludes its longest-ever war this year.
“Time is short,” he said.
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