The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, today, outlined that Moscow would not order its armed forces to cross over the Ukrainian border into the eastern Ukraine.

Speaking on Russian state television, he said,

“We have absolutely no intention and no interests in crossing the Ukranian border. We (Russia and the West) are getting closer in our positions.”

The Russian president Vladmir Putin called Barack Obama today, to discuss proposals that appeased all parties involved in the situation in Ukraine.

Commenting on today’s events, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, outlined that Putin had called to discuss a US proposal for a diplomatic resolution that was presented to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov earlier this week.

An official from the White House described the call as ‘frank and direct’, outlining that the next step was for the Lavrov and Kerry to continue discussions to prove Russia’s commitment to negotiation.

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, repeated calls for the Syrian government to end restrictions on access to areas where Syrian civilians were in desperate need of international aid.

Speaking to Reuters after briefing the United Nations Security Council, Amos said,

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group in the Philippines signed a historic territorial peace deal with the government today, ending over four decades of conflict with the government of Philippines.

Turkey has moved to ban YouTube access after what appeared to be a leaked recording of Turkish officials discussing Syria surfaced on the YouTube website.

The leaked discussions were around military operations in Syria, with the Turkish Foreign minister and Intelligence Chief allegedly involved.

Reuters, who couldn’t confirm the participants in the leaked discussion, outlined that it was potentially the most damaging leak so far.

United Nations officials in the Central African Republic (CAR), urging the international community to increase its support, stressed today, that a lack of a political solution and sufficient funding  was keeping the region in a state of constant instability that worsened the humanitarian crisis.

Reiterating the importance of finding a political solution to ensure lasting peace and recovery in the region, the head of the UN peace-building mission in CAR, Babacar Gaye, told press,