CRI听力:Ukraine, Afghanistan and IS Threat Top NATO Agenda

More than 60 world leaders are meeting in the Welsh city of Newport for a summit of NATO countries amid what is being described as one of the most serious security crisis Europe has seen in a long time.

CRI's UK correspondent Duan Xuelian has more.

Ukraine, Afghanistan and IS Threat Top Nato Agenda 

Ukraine and Afghanistan are two key topics for the NATO Summit.

However, the rise of the so-called Islamic State has also managed to force itself on to the event's two-day agenda.

At a special session to address the crisis in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance has established "a comprehensive and tailored package of measures" to help Ukraine.

This includes NATO providing Ukraine with 15 million euros of assistance, including supports for logistics, rehabilitation for injured troops, cyber defense and communications.

The NATO chief is also calling on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukraine and end what he calls the "illegal" annexation of Crimea.

British officials, meanwhile, say fresh EU and US sanctions against Russia are due to be announced later on this Friday.

This, despite Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the rebel leaders suggesting a ceasefire might also be agreed-to by this Friday as well.

Meanwhile, the NATO summit has also touched upon Afghanistan, with Rasmussen promising "enduring" support to the country, both in financial and political terms, despite NATO's impending pull-out at the end of the year.

"Today we renewed our financial commitment to support the sustainment of the Afghanistan forces. And we reaffirm today our commitment to an enduring partnership between NATO and Afghanistan."

The rival presidential candidates in Afghanistan have pledged to NATO leaders that they would form a unity government and sign legal agreements that allow foreign troops to stay on next year.

At the same time, summit host, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, is under mounting domestic pressure, with extremists from the Islamic State threatening to kill a British man they are holding hostage.

In a public statement ahead of the Summit, Cameron says he is personally supervising the efforts to secure the release of the British hostage.

However, he says UK will not be paying a ransom.

"This terrorist organization and indeed others around the world have made tens of millions of dollars from these ransoms and they spend that money on arming themselves, on kidnapping more people and on plotting terrorist outrages including in our own country. It is a difficult decision to make but I'm convinced it is the right decision. "

At the same time, Cameron says he's not ruling out military action against the Islamic State.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian, reporting from Newport.