German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that the initiative she and French President Francois Hollande are taking to end the conflict in Ukraine was aimed at defending "Europe's peaceful order".

Merkel and Hollande headed to Moscow on Friday to secure President Vladimir Putin's support for a peace plan to end violence in the east.

Merkel said on Friday that the two EU leaders, who are trying to secure Russian support for a peace plan, were not acting merely as "neutral intermediaries" but were representing European interests. "These interests are peace, maintaining Europe's peaceful order," she said.