Nato Leaders To Unveil Tough Russia Sanctions

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Tough new measures designed to halt Russian aggression in Ukraine will be unveiled on the second and final day of the Nato summit in Wales.

The United States and European Union are due to announce a new round of co-ordinated economic sanctions against Russia, US and British government sources have reported.

These are set to include restrictions on some of the country's all-important energy firms and travel restrictions.

But it comes amid reports of further fighting to the east of the port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, hours before Ukrainian, Russian and European envoys are expected to back a peace plan and a ceasefire.

Mayor of Mariupol, Yuri Khotlubey, told Ukraine's 112 TV channel: "Our artillery has come and is being deployed against the (pro-Russian) rebels.

Nato says thousands of Russian troops are in Ukraine

A commander of a Ukrainian volunteer militia based in Mariupol told Reuters news agency: "We were under fire all night but we are still keeping the rebels at bay. They are facing us with tanks and artillery."

Western leaders accuse Russia of sending thousands of troops into the east of the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, deputy White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Russia would pay a price for its actions.

""The key point is that Russia must continue to face costs for its own escalation.

"If Russia escalates, we can escalate our pressure."

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned that Russia's incursion poses the most serious security threat to Europe since the Cold War, although Moscow has consistently denied direct military involvement.

Nato wants Iraq to request military training support

Nato is also expected to finalise plans for a Rapid Reaction Force that can deploy to Eastern Europe on 48 hours notice.

This will include pre-positioning logistic and planning support in Baltic countries, and the provision vital equipment.

Nato insists this does not breach a 1997 agreement not to create permanent bases near the Russian border.

The announcements will come a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama and other senior Nato leaders met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Mr Poroshenko has announced plans to order a ceasefire, provided a peace plan is agreed during separate talks in Minsk, attended by representatives from Ukraine, Russia and pro-Russian rebel forces. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also expressed hopes a truce will come into force later, two days after he unveiled his own seven-point peace plan.

Alongside Ukraine, Nato leaders will use the final day of the summit to discuss the threat posed by Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The alliance leaders met for a formal dinner at Cardiff Castle last night.

Mr Obama is trying to bring together a coalition of nations and it is becoming increasingly likely the UK will authorise airstrikes against IS in northern Iraq.

But for any operation to be effective, it needs the support and involvement of countries in the region.

Nato is encouraging Iraq to request training support for its military although it will not go further and involve itself in a combat mission.

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Man Shot Dead By Police In Knife Incident

Police have shot dead a man who was threatening a woman with a knife at a house in London, Scotland Yard said.

The incident happened at a property in Islington and it is understood the man and the woman knew each other.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said the woman was unharmed and is being treated for shock.

The man was treated at the scene in Shepperton Road but died on the way to hospital.

Police had sent a negotiator to the scene at 11.19pm on Thursday following reports the man had broken into a house.

Rosa Whiteread, 28, a primary school teacher who lives in the street, said: "I was asleep and I heard shouting - it woke me up. It must have been around 12.30 at night.

"I looked out of the window and I saw lots of police, there must have been around a dozen of them. I asked them what was going on, but they said they couldn't tell me.

"I'm not sure if the police were armed, but I saw a police dog. It's shocking."

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Sotloff Family Grieving After Hostage 'Killed'

The family of US hostage Steven Sotloff have seen a video which purportedly shows him being beheaded by an Islamic State fighter, and are grieving privately.

Barak Barfi, a family spokesman, also said authorities have not established its authenticity.

He said: "The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time."

Mr Sotloff, 31, was a freelance journalist for Time and Foreign Policy magazines who went missing in Syria.

He was apparently killed by IS in revenge for US airstrikes on the Islamist militant group in Iraq.

Mr Sotloff has reportedly been killed by Islamic State

His reported death comes two weeks after the release of a video showing the killing of fellow US citizen James Foley and Mr Sotloff being threatened with death.

That led to Mr Sotloff's mother Shirley pleading for her son's life.

A friend of both hostages, Matthew Van Dyke, told Sky News it was time for the US to consider paying ransoms to secure the release of hostages.

IS had reportedly demanded £80m for Mr Foley's release.

But the US - unlike several European countries that have given millions to the terror group to spare their citizens - refused to pay.

Mr Van Dyke told Sky News he hoped the apparent killing was a "wake-up call to Americans", adding: "This is a serious threat".

Shirley Sotloff had pleaded for her son's life

He went on: "They are executing Americans and videotaping it and we need to do something about that. The US administration needs to get serious about the problem."

Mr Van Dyke said there were more Americans being held by IS and "we need to bring them home".

He said authorities should "re-examine the policy of paying ransoms for prisoner exchanges to at least get these people home and then take on IS and kill them before they get to spend the money."

Mr Van Dyke said the news of Mr Sotloff's reported death was "horrible", adding: "I've lost two friends in two weeks."

He said Mr Sotloff was a "brilliant journalist, hard working and dedicated".

"He knew the dangers but he knew the story needed to be told."

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IS Beheading: British Hostage Will Be Next

An Islamic State militant in a video which purports to show the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff has warned that a British hostage will be next.

The 31-year-old, from Florida, is seen dressed in an orange jumpsuit in the video - titled A Second Message To America.

Mr Sotloff, who had worked for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, was forced to read out a statement before he was killed.

The American freelancer had appeared in a video showing the murder of fellow journalist James Foley, in which a masked militant with an English accent threatened him with death unless the US stopped airstrikes targeting IS in Iraq.

The murder is thought to have been carried out by the same British militant

The militant is thought to be the same man who murdered Mr Sotloff, according to the US terror video monitoring agency Site.

He then warns that a British hostage - who is shown kneeling at knifepoint - will be targeted next.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State ... despite our serious warnings."

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley watched the video and said: "The killer is holding an identical knife, standing just behind and to the left of Mr Sotloff.

"He is also armed with a shoulder holster identical to the one that carried a pistol on his last video, just prior to the murder of James Foley.

Mr Sotloff worked as a freelance journalist in the Middle East

"He has got exactly the same accent... but it is clear that the voice has been somehow treated or adjusted.

"There is some kind of disguising mechanism that has been put to use to try to further hide his identity in addition to the black mask that reveals only his eyes."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "The intelligence community will work as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity.

"If the video is genuine we are sickened by this brutal act, taking the life of another innocent American citizen. Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family."

Journalist James Foley was murdered in a video two weeks ago

She would not be drawn on whether current events meant the US was at war with IS, formerly known as ISIS and ISIL, which has claimed territory across Syria and Iraq.

Hours after the video emerged, President Barack Obama authorised a State Department request for 350 extra US military troops to be stationed in Iraq.

The White House said the troops would "protect our diplomatic facilities and personnel in Baghdad".

"The President has made clear his commitment to doing whatever is required to provide the necessary security for US personnel and facilities around the world," a White House statement said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra on Wednesday morning, said: "If verified, this is a despicable and barbaric murder.

"We have already been working hard to keep British people safe and we will continue to do all we can to protect our country and our people from these barbaric terrorists."

The Foreign Office said it was also "urgently working to verify the authenticity of the video".

Mr Sotloff's relatives said they were aware of "this horrific tragedy" and were "grieving privately".

Nato leaders are set to attend a summit in Newport, Wales, on Thursday.

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Ashya's Parents Held After Missing Boy Found

The parents of Ashya King, who was taken out of hospital against medical advice, have been arrested after being found with their son in Spain.

Police say officers in the Malaga area pulled over the family's car at 9pm UK time and found the five-year-old and his parents inside.

The boy from Portsmouth, who underwent "extensive surgery" during an operation on his brain tumour seven days ago, has been taken to hospital.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Hampshire Constabulary said his parents, Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45, were in custody after being arrested on a European arrest warrant.

"We don't have many details on Ashya's condition at this point in time but what we do know is that he was showing no visible signs of distress," he said.

"There are no winners in this situation. I've said all along that this must be a terribly distressing time for Ashya's family and I stand by that now."

An international search was launched after Ashya was taken on Thursday

He added that it was too soon to say when Ashya would come back to the UK but said Southampton General Hospital had been contacted so they can liaise with doctors taking care of him in Spain.

"Ashya's brothers and sisters were not in the vehicle," he said.

"We have located them. They're all okay, they're fine. They are actually in a hotel about 10 miles away."

He said a team of Hampshire police officers would now be travelling to Spain to continue the investigation.

It came as footage emerged on video-sharing website YouTube in which Ashya's father, a Jehovah's Witness, insists they had taken him from hospital to seek a cancer treatment not available on the NHS.

French media had picked up the story after Ashya was taken from hospital

"We were much disturbed today to find that his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we've been labelled as kidnappers, putting his life at risk, neglect," he says.

"There's been a lot of talk about this machine. As you see, it's all plugged in. We've got loads of these feeds here, we've got iron supplements and we've got Calpol.

"As you can see, there's nothing wrong with him. He's very happy actually, since we took him out of hospital. He's been smiling a lot more, he's been very much interacting with us.

"But I just wanted to say very quickly why we took him out of the hospital.

"The surgeon did a wonderful job on his head that took out the brain tumour, completely they reckon. But straight away afterwards he went into what's called posterior fossa syndrome, which means very limited moving or talking or doing anything."

Ashya is now being cared for in a Spanish hospital

He said he had spoken to specialists after Ashya's surgery and had requested proton beam treatment, which was not available on the NHS.

"Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer," he said.

"We pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever.

"I went straight back to my room and looked it up and the American sites and French sites and Switzerland sites where they have proton beam said the opposite, it would be very beneficial for him."

Mr King also urged police to call off "this ridiculous chase".

"We're not neglecting our son, he's in perfectly good health," he said.

Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds but are open to other medical procedures.

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EU Gives Russia Ultimatum Over Ukraine Crisis

Russia could be facing a fresh wave of EU sanctions within a week after Russian tanks reportedly attacked a town near the Ukrainian border city of Luhansk.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said tanks had been used to "destroy virtually every house" in the town of Novosvitlivka.

There were now thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks inside Ukraine, he told a news conference in Brussels, where EU leaders met to discuss the crisis.

"There is a very high risk not only for peace and stability for Ukraine but for the whole peace and stability of Europe," he said.

After meeting his European counterparts, Mr Poroshenko warned that efforts to end violence with pro-Russian rebels were close to a "point of no return" and that failure could lead to "full-scale war".

European leaders have ordered officials to make urgent preparations for a toughening of measures, likely to target senior Kremlin figures as well as the defence, energy and financial sectors.

Satellite imagery reportedly shows Russian military vehicles inside Ukraine

Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU summit had taken "important steps" and the European Commission would present firm proposals for tougher sanctions within a week.

"It is totally unacceptable that there are Russian soldiers on Ukrainian soil. We have now set out a timetable for further sanctions that could be ... significant steps," Mr Cameron said.

"It's a deeply serious situation and we have to show real resolve, real resilience in demonstrating to Russia that if she carries on in this way the relationship we have between Europe and Russia, Britain and Russia, America and Russia will be radically different in the future."

Outgoing EU Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso insisted it was not too late to find a political solution, but he added: "We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation ... where we can reach the point of no return.

"If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point can come."

He added: "Russia should not underestimate the European Union's will and resolve to stand by its principles and values."

This image shows trucks and armoured vehicles near the Russia border

Meanwhile, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite called for a stepped up arms embargo on Russia.

She said: "It is the fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine. That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU.

"Practically Russia is in a state of war against Europe."

It comes after a mutual exchange of captured soldiers between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday.

A group of 10 Russian paratroopers and 63 Ukrainian soldiers were returned after "very difficult negotiations", according to the Russian RIA news agency.

Nato released images apparently showing Russian forces on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

Government sources said separatists are believed to have heavy weaponry supplied by President Vladimir Putin.

Included in the weaponry are 100 tanks and artillery pieces, anti-tank weapons and shoulder-mounted missile launchers, the sources said.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations it has sent soldiers or equipment across the border.

President Barack Obama has said the satellite pictures made it "plain" that Russia had "deliberately and repeatedly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".

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