The deal is part of wider efforts by the region's economies to build a banking union as they look to avoid taxpayer-funded bank bailouts.

Thousands of Italians have marched in cities across the country over the last nine days in protests fuelled by falling incomes and unemployment.

Previously the Palestinians indicated that after April, they would resume a campaign of seeking wider recognition at the UN.

The hardline Nusra Front is one of the most powerful groups fighting alongside rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

In May, Russia’s military intelligence agency said it expected the influence of the radical Islamist Taliban to grow in Afghanistan.

The deal with Moscow did little to appease the protesters calling on Yanukovych to turn away from Russia and renew ties with the EU.

The European Commission and the EU member states have donated more than 2 billion euros since the start of the Syria crisis.