CRI听力:Protesters Rally in Anti-NATO March in Munich

Hundreds of protesters on Saturday marched through the center of Munich protesting against NATO and Germany taking one of the leading roles in the conflict with Russia over Ukraine.

Protesters held banners calling for Germany to leave the military alliance and a large octopus with a skull, representing NATO.

Some protesters are already calling the conference a "Munich American Peace Committee".

Renate Borger is one protester that spoke fiery against the US-led NATO.

"We think that the UN should be responsible for international security. We have institutions already like the OSCE. We fear that NATO is becoming more and more an alliance of war representing Western interests, in particular representing the interest for resources. That's why we think it's very important to scrutinize NATO."

The march took place as the world's top diplomats gathered in Munich at a security conference to discuss the recent escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are set to discuss their peace proposals in a phone call later Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The negotiators' aim is to draw up a possible joint document on implementing the much-violated Minsk peace deal.

That agreement featured a demilitarized zone, though the battle lines have since changed, and the government in Kiev has offered a measure of autonomy to the separatists.