The US is weighing up arming Ukraine in its war against Russia-backed separatist rebels if diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict fail, but no decision has yet been taken, President Barack Obama has said.
He admitted possible “tactical disagreements” between the US and Europe over the crisis in eastern Ukraine at a joint press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But he insisted that the allies were united on the need to “ratchet up the costs” of Russia’s military intervention. The US president said he had asked his advisers to look at “all options” to “change [president] Putin’s calculus” if diplomacy failed. “The possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that is being examined,” he said.
The German and US leaders insisted there was no military solution to the Ukrainian conflict. Ms Merkel is adamantly opposed to arming Ukraine and is putting huge efforts into reaching a deal with Mr Putin.