Ukraine Seeks NATO Membership

Ukraine wants a full membership in NATO. The organisation is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in eastern Ukraine,

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that he would ask the Parliament to put the country on the path towards NATO membership. This is Ukraine's strongest plea till now for Western military help after it accused Russia of sending arms and ammunition to the territory, Reuters reports.

Yatsenyuk further said that the government was planning on sending a bill to MPs to urge them to cancel Ukraine's non-bloc status.

The Western nations have now become more vocal in directly accusing Russia of being involved in the conflict and violence that has been going on for weeks in eastern Ukraine following advances by pro-Russian separatists, BBC reports.

"We have regularly marshalled evidence to indicate what exactly is happening, despite the protestations of the Russian government that for some reason would have us all believe otherwise," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. "The fact is, those denials are completely without any credibility, and, you know, we've been pretty candid about that."

Nato released satellite images Thursday showed Russian forces have crossed Ukraine's border and stated that more than 1,000 troops were operating inside Ukraine.

However, Russia denied the accusations of sending troops.

Nearly 2,600 people have been killed since April, the United Nations stated, as Russia's seizure of Crimea allowed the pro-Russian rebels to take control of large parts of Donetsk and Luhansk - newly-born cities in the far east of the country.

Meanwhile, addressing a bunch of young people at a summer camp, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said that his countrymen need to be "ready to repel any aggression towards Russia." He went on to describe Ukrainians and Russians as "practically one people."