Angela Merkel says a peace plan is worth trying, as Emily Buchanan reports
A
peace plan drawn up by France and Germany is "one of the last chances"
to end the conflict in east Ukraine, French leader Francois Hollande
says.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was unclear if the plan would succeed, but it was "definitely worth trying".Mr Hollande said the plan would include a demilitarised zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.
The leaders are attempting to end the fighting in Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russia rebels.
Russia is accused of arming pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine - claims it denies.
Mr Hollande and Mrs Merkel are due to discuss the peace plan with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko by telephone on Sunday.
Few details have emerged, but the plan is thought to be an attempt to revive a failed ceasefire deal signed in Minsk, in Belarus, in September. Since then, the rebels have seized more ground, raising alarm in Kiev and among Ukraine's backers.
The UN says fighting has left nearly 5,400 people dead since April, when the rebels seized a big swathe of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions following Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Intense fighting in the strategic town of Debaltseve has forced many to flee their homes
The US is considering providing the Ukrainian forces with defensive weapons
Diplomatic talks have been continuing at an international security conference in the German city of Munich, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he "sincerely" hoped the latest peace plan would "produce results".
Mrs Merkel told the conference that while there was no guarantee diplomacy would succeed, it was essential to try. "I believe we owe that much to those who are affected in Ukraine," she said.
Mr Hollande told French TV that eastern Ukrainian regions would need extensive autonomy. "These people have gone to war," he said. "It will be difficult to make them share a common life."
Rebels say they have captured the town of Vuhlehirsk in Donetsk
The statement put her in opposition to Nato's top military commander, US Air Force general Philip Breedlove, who told reporters that Western allies should not "preclude out of hand the possibility of the military option".
The German Chancellor - speaking here in Munich for the first time since her return from her peace mission to Kiev and Moscow - has provided a fascinating insight into her own political underpinnings.
She passionately defended her opposition to the idea of selling arms to Ukraine - something that is under active consideration in Washington.
She pointed to her own personal experience - she said that as a girl she had seen the Berlin Wall go up but nobody had intervened to help the citizens of what became the Eastern bloc, because there was no realistic expectation of success. Her implication was that this realism was needed now.
Her view is that no amount of weaponry will convince Mr Putin that Russia would lose militarily. More arms she insisted would lead to more victims.
There was significant applause at these remarks, though noticeably neither US Vice-President Joe Biden or the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko were clapping.
Russia is still denying any direct role in the conflict, while Kiev insists above all that Ukraine must remain united, our correspondent says.
In Munich, Mr Poroshenko brandished what he said were passports of Russian troops who had come to Ukraine.
Mr Poroshenko said passports proved Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the BBC that he had seen evidence of increased supply of heavy military weapons to the rebels, some "very advanced - they can only come from Russia".
What is Russia's army buying? - in 90 seconds
On Saturday, Ukraine's military said five servicemen had been killed and 26 wounded in the past day of fighting. At least seven civilians were reported to have been killed.
Ukraine also said rebels were amassing forces around the strategic town of Debaltseve and in Granitne, 35km north-east of Mariupol.
Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the BBC the situation was "getting very dire indeed".
More than 3,000 people had been evacuated in the past few days and some were being accommodated in cold conditions in train carriages, he said.
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