The White House declined to say whether President Obama would support sending lethal aid to Ukraine to fight escalating Russian aggression in response to growing calls from Capitol Hill and outside groups to do so.
Josh Earnest, the president’s press secretary, said Thursday the U.S. has deepened its engagement with Kiev over the last few weeks and noted that Secretary of State John Kerry is in Ukraine, meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
He also said that Vice President Joe Biden is on his way to Brussels and Munich to meet with European leaders and Poroshenko to discuss boosting security and financial aid to Ukraine and tightening economic sanctions on Russia.
In addition, Obama will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday during her visit to Washington, and the situation in Ukraine will comprise a “substantial part of their discussion,” Earnest said.
When it comes to U.S. lethal aid, Earnest said only that Obama “reserves the right to make a decision about the broader strategy vis-a-vis Ukraine.”
Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove is reportedly pushing a plan for the U.S. to provide weapons to Ukrainian forces to fight Russian-backed rebels.
In addition, Washington’s top think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, the Atlantic Council and the Center for New American Security, argue that arming Ukraine may be the best way to help bring the crisis in Ukraine to an end.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators called on Obama and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to rapidly increase military assistance to Ukraine to defend its borders against escalating Russian aggression.
“Russia’s affront to established international norms is a direct threat to decades of established European security architecture and the democratic aspirations of the Ukrainian people. It must not be allowed to succeed,” said a bipartisan group of 15 senators, including Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, with Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Barbara Boxer of California and Ben Cardin of Maryland.
