US President Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss escalating violence in eastern Ukraine, urging him to embrace a negotiated solution.
Greece's radical new government was fine-turning details of a controversial reform deal it hopes to seal with sceptical EU creditors at critical talks.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were due in Moscow after getting Kiev's tentative backing for a crunch peace plan.
The 38-year-old British actor, who has a best actor nod for playing codebreaker Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game", insists he can and has played idiots.
NATO defence ministers agreed to immediately set up six bases in eastern Europe and establish a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to Russian aggression.