Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq is expected to visit Moscow on September 18 to sign a deal to buy military equipment for the Internal Security Forces, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

Lebanon will buy the equipment from a recently announced $1 billion Saudi grant to Lebanon, it said.

The head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee called Sunday for supplying Ukraine with weapons to fight what he called a "direct invasion" of the country by Russia.

"We should provide the Ukrainians with the type of defensive weapons that will impose a cost upon (Russian President Vladimir) Putin for further aggression," Robert Menendez told CNN's "State of the Union" talk show.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict by calling for the first time for statehood to be discussed for the restive east of the former Soviet state.

The remarks came just hours after the European Union gave Moscow -- which the bloc accuses of direct involvement in the insurgency -- a week to change course or face new sanctions.

Ten Russian paratroopers captured inside Ukraine nearly one week ago have returned home following a troop exchange, Russian media reported Sunday.

In the early hours of Sunday the 10 paratroopers were handed over to Russian authorities at the Nekhoteyevka border crossing.

With pro-Russian rebels threatening at the gates, fighters loyal to Kiev in Mariupol are having to face a hard truth: they will be unable to save this vital port city alone.

"We're the only ones here," sighs “Botsman”, the leader of one unit in the Azov volunteer battalion trying to hold out as pro-Russian rebel forces sweep west.

He doesn't bluster and he doesn't strut and President Barack Obama certainly isn't panicking, though he admits it feels like the world is falling apart.

But Obama's cool-in-a-crisis style and disdain for the impulsive use of military force is fueling criticism of his leadership, as crises stagger the Middle East and Ukraine.

Iraq has received Russian Mi-28 attack helicopters and will use them against militants who have overrun large parts of the country, the defense ministry said on Saturday.

A ministry statement did not specify how many of the heavily armored two-seat gunships it has received or what it paid for them.

The so-called Contact Group on Ukraine will meet Monday in Minsk, Belarussian officials said, as the Kremlin emphasized the importance of having separatists participate.

The Belarussian foreign ministry said representatives of Kiev, Moscow and the OSCE would attend the talks but did not provide details.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Saturday warned Russia was practically at war with Europe and urged tougher sanctions against Moscow.

"Russia is at war against Ukraine and that is against a country which wants to be part of Europe. Russia is practically in war against Europe," said Grybauskaite, one of Moscow's harshest critics, as she arrived for an EU summit.

The European Union geared up a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia on Saturday with warnings that the escalating conflict in Ukraine was putting all of Europe at risk of war.

Fears of a wider confrontation spiraled after allegations that Russia has sent troops and weapons across the border to help a bloody new counter-offensive by pro-Kremlin rebels.