UK foreign secretary William Hague has said that there is no doubt that Russia is behind the unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking at a day-long discussion of EU ministers in Luxembourg, hague stated:

"There is very little doubt, there can't really be any real doubt, that this is something that has been planned and brought about by Russia. The forces involved are well-armed, well-trained, well-equipped, well-coordinated, behaving in exactly the same way as what turned out to be Russian forces behaving in Crimea before the full Russian military takeover of Crimea. So, it has all the appearances of a further gross, deliberate and premeditated violation of the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, and it is also clearly a very dangerous thing to do, and therefore there has to be a clear and united international response to that."

Uk prime minister David Cameron has claimed the latest crisis in Ukraine "bears the hallmarks" of a Russian approach.

Following a phone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel, he called on Moscow to unequivocally condemn the illegal occupation of government buildings.

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