Germany: Russia will let tanks roll across borders

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned on Monday of an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, saying "Russia was clearly prepared to allow tanks to roll across European borders".

Speaking at an event in Berlin alongside new French Prime Minister Manuel Valls to commemorate World War One, Gabriel urged Europe to remember the lessons of the two world wars and not take freedom and security for granted.

The Ukraine crisis had shown that the old genie of geo-political power politics had been released from the bottle, Gabriel, who is also economy and energy minister, said.

Reporting by Alexandra Hudson and Holger Hansen