By RFE/RL
U.S. President Barack Obama says he is looking into the option of sending lethal defensive weapons to Kyiv "if diplomacy fails" to end the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are fighting government troops.
Obama, speaking after talks in Washington with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 9, said he hoped that a diplomatic solution is still possible, but that it is clear Russia has violated its commitments on Ukraine.
Merkel traveled to Washington February 9 to discuss with Obama the French-German efforts to revive last year's Minsk peace agreement, which collapsed amid intensified fighting in eastern Ukraine.
"It's clear that they violated just about every commitment they made in the Minsk agreement, instead of withdrawing from eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued to operate there, training separatists and helping to coordinate attacks, instead of withdrawing its arms Russia has sent in more tanks and armored personnel carriers and heavy artillery," said Obama.
Merkel, who has repeately made made clear she opposes supplying Kyiv with lethal arms, admitted diplomatic efforts were largely unsuccessful, but said that they would continue.
"I've always said that I don't see a military solution to this conflict but we have to put all our efforts into bringing about a diplomatic solution," Merkel said.
An excerpt from Why Putin Is Lying About Ukraine by Leonid Bershidsky on BloombergView:
Putin...is likely to be relieved if the U.S. decides to provide military aid to Ukraine: Then, he can finally tell Russians about the war, explaining that he's fighting the meddling U.S., not impoverished and culturally close Ukraine. In fact, he is already trying out that pitch. In a meeting with students on Jan. 26, Putin described the Ukrainian armed forces as a "NATO foreign legion." As long as the West refuses to arm Ukraine, that reasoning will sound thin. But it will work much better once that barrier has fallen.
Putin's lies aren't directed at concealing the war from Russians: They know what's going on, because dead soldiers are impossible to conceal. Putin's lies are a message to the West, a signal that Russia isn't yet fully committed. They're a veiled threat, an invitation to compromise and a lever to help get Russian troops onto any eventual peacekeeping force that is called on to separate the sides.