Berlin: French President Francois Hollande says all parties pushing for a new peace plan for eastern Ukraine see a ceasefire as the first step but must go further to find a lasting accord.

Hollande spoke on Friday before he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed to Moscow to discuss a new European peace plan with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The top-level diplomatic dash came a day after Merkel and Hollande met with the Ukrainian government in Kiev to discuss how to salvage a peace plan agreed upon last year in Minsk, Belarus.

“Everyone is aware that the first step must be the ceasefire, but that it cannot suffice. We must seek a global solution,” Hollande said. “We should have hope [in this new initiative].”

Even getting the arms to fall silent would be a significant diplomatic breakthrough. Fighting between Russian-backed rebels and the government in Kiev has surged in the last month in eastern Ukraine, fuelling fears the conflict is threatening Europe’s overall security.

Russia has vehemently denied backing the rebels with troops and weapons, but the top Nato commander, US Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, said on Thursday that Russia continues to supply the separatists with heavy, state-of-the-art weapons, air defences and fighters.

In Berlin, Merkel said she and Hollander would use “all our power with direct visits to Kiev and to Moscow today to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible and to fill the Minsk agreement with life.”

She rejected reports that she and Hollande were prepared to offer more territory to the Ukraine separatists, adding that “I will never deal with territorial questions over another country.”

The diplomatic blitz comes amid fierce fighting that prompted Washington to consider providing the beleaguered Ukrainian military with lethal weapons, an option that Germany and other European nations reject.

“We are convinced that there’s no military solution to this conflict,” Merkel added. “But we also know that it’s completely open whether we will manage to achieve a ceasefire with these talks. We don’t know if this will happen today or whether further talks are necessary, whether these will be long or short talks in Moscow.”

Meanwhile, the US and Europe must stand together over Ukraine as it battles for survival in the face of escalating Russian military involvement, Vice-president Joe Biden said during a visit to Brussels on Friday.

“We, the US and Europe as a whole, have to stand with Ukraine at this moment,” he said, amid reports of transatlantic divisions over whether to send weapons to support the Western-backed Kiev government.

“Russia cannot be allowed to redraw the map of Europe.”

Biden also criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is to meet the leaders of France and Germany in Moscow later Friday, of riding roughshod over peace efforts.

“Ukraine is fighting for their very survival right now,” Biden told reporters alongside European Union (EU) president Donald Tusk.

“Russia continues to escalate the conflict by sending mercenaries and tanks and, as we euphemistically say in the United states, little green men, without patches, very sophisticated special operations soldiers.

“President Putin continues to call for new peace plans as his troops roll through the Ukrainian countryside, and he absolutely ignores every agreement his country has signed in the past.”

Tusk — the former Polish premier who has spoken out strongly in the past against Russia’s alleged support for pro-Kremlin separatist forces in Ukraine — said the West must keep up pressure on Russia.

EU officials said Thursday that the bloc will blacklist more Russian individuals over Ukraine, but divisions within the 28-nation bloc, particularly with the new Greek government, have prevented further broad economic sanctions.

“The European Union and the United States need to continue standing shoulder to shoulder, coordinate our efforts and uphold the pressure on Russia for as long as necessary,” said Tusk.

In an apparent warning to Merkel and Hollande as they visit Moscow, Tusk warned against any deal with Moscow that would break up Ukraine.

“We cannot compromise on Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.