The US is examining the option of supplying “lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine if a peace deal is not reached to end the crisis in the east of the country, Barack Obama has said.
European and US leaders are pushing for a new peace deal in eastern Ukraine, as fighting escalates between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists.
Amid announcements by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that Ukraine and the EU were seeing “limited but positive signs” in Eastern Ukraine, hopes for a new and more constructive approach from Russia have emerged.
Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels they have been fighting for five months in the east have agreed to a truce deal.
France has halted the delivery of the first of two warship deliveries to Russia due to the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.