Germany may not send drones to help monitor the Ukraine-Russian border as promised, in part because the surveillance aircraft doesn't work in very icy temperatures, a lawmaker said Friday.

The "Luna" unmanned aerial vehicle does not work at below minus 19 degrees Centigrade (minus two degrees Fahrenheit), the lawmaker said, confirming a Bild daily report.

India successfully test-fired its first domestically built nuclear-capable long-range cruise missile Friday, marking another step in building up the country's defense prowess. 

The "Nirbhay", or "fearless", missile blasted off from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Missile Test Range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa, the Press Trust of India reported. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have major differences over the origin and causes of the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said following talks between the two leaders.

"There are still serious differences concerning the origin of Ukraine's internal conflict, as well as the root causes of what is currently happening," Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying early Friday.

Moscow on Thursday denied a U.S. assertion that it had agreed to ramp up intelligence-sharing with Washington over the Islamic State group, saying it would provide no such help without U.N. Security Council approval.

The statement by Russia's foreign ministry contradicted a declaration by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made after a meeting in Paris on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Three Ukrainian soldiers have been killed fighting pro-Russian rebels, the government said Thursday, as fighting engulfed a key airport in the east of the country.

The latest clashes rocked a shaky truce as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko traveled to Italy for talks on the conflict with European leaders and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Friday.

President Vladimir Putin accused his US counterpart Barack Obama of a hostile approach towards Russia, warning in a Cold War-style tirade that Moscow would not be blackmailed by the West over Ukraine.

Putin fired off his combative comments shortly before he arrived amid tight security to a red carpet welcome in Belgrade, seeking to cement Russia's influence in its loyal European ally.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Milan on Friday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Wednesday.

Renzi said the two men at the center of Europe's worst security crisis in years would meet at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders (ASEM).

Georgia on Wednesday warned Russia against taking further steps to integrate its separatist region of Abkhazia, saying it would create new security problems in Europe.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili issued an "emergency statement" after the leader of the Kremlin-backed rebel statelet on Monday submitted a draft agreement to its local parliament that would dramatically strengthen ties with Moscow.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday there were plans for her to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and that she hoped for "an open exchange of opinions" on the Ukraine crisis.

Both leaders will attend a two-day Asia-Europe meeting of leaders in Milan, Italy, starting Thursday and "there are plans for talks with the Russian president," Merkel said.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev thinks a reset in relations between Moscow and Washington is "impossible" while punishing Western sanctions remain in force, he said in an interview aired by U.S. TV Wednesday.

Medvedev blasted U.S. and EU measures imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis as "absolutely destructive" and "stupid" and said there was no chance of mending ties with the White House while they were in place.