|
 Merkel's message that sending Western weapons to Kiev risks
escalating the conflict is likely to get a sympathetic hearing when
she meets President Barack Obama later in the day.
But critics of Obama's cautious foreign policy approach are already
demanding decisive U.S. action to help Kiev fight the separatists in
eastern Ukraine, even if this deepens a standoff with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Nine Ukrainian troops have been killed in the past 24 hours and
seven civilians also died, Kiev said on Monday, with fighting
particularly intense around the town of Debaltseve, a major rail and
road junction northeast of the city of Donetsk.
At a security conference in Munich over the weekend, Merkel said it
was uncertain whether further negotiations would lead to a deal with
Putin but argued that all opportunities for a diplomatic solution
should be pursued.
Merkel, who with French President Francois Hollande is due to meet
Putin on Wednesday, has come under fire from U.S. foreign policy
hawks in the Republican-controlled Congress who want defensive
weapons sent to the Ukraine army.
 "The Ukrainians are being slaughtered and we're sending them
blankets and meals," Sen. John McCain said at the Munich conference.
"Blankets don't do well against Russian tanks."
But Merkel made clear her opposition to arming Kiev. "I understand
the debate but I believe that more weapons will not lead to the
progress Ukraine needs. I really doubt that," she said.
A Russian speaker who grew up in East Germany, she has taken the
lead in pursuing a diplomatic solution, speaking with Putin by phone
dozens of times over the past year and meeting him in Russia,
Australia and Italy in recent months.
Last week, Merkel and Hollande met Putin in Moscow and followed this
up with a conference call on Sunday also including Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko. The four are due to meet in Minsk on
Wednesday, but so far no breakthrough has emerged in the nearly
year-long conflict that has claimed over 5,000 lives.
Moscow warned on Monday that Putin will not be spoken to in the
language of ultimatums. Asked about media speculation Merkel had
issued him an ultimatum at talks on arranging a summit on Ukraine,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Govorit Moskva radio: "Nobody
has ever talked to the president in the tone of an ultimatum - and
could not do so even if they wanted to."
OBAMA'S OPTIONS
Obama has to decide whether to supply weapons, impose tougher
sanctions on Russia in the hope of forcing Putin to compromise, or
throw his full weight behind the revised German-French peace
initiative, even though U.S. officials accuse Putin of shredding a
prior ceasefire agreement signed in September.
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U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say he will
weigh his options carefully and will not be rushed into a decision.
"The timetable is fluid. This is too important to make a snap
decision," one official said.
Officials say Obama has recommendations on his desk outlining the
pros and cons of supplying Ukraine with lethal arms, such as
anti-tank weapons, small arms and ammunition.
Some of his top advisers, including Ashton Carter, his choice for
new defense secretary, increasingly favor such an approach. National
security adviser Susan Rice said arms supplies were under
consideration but signaled caution, and stressed the need to
maintain unity with European allies.
Such a step would be taken only "in close consultation and in
coordination with our partners, whose unity on this issue with us
thus far has been a core element of our strength in responding to
Russia’s aggression", she said.
In Kiev, military spokesman Vyacheslav Seleznyov said government
forces had come under attack from the rebels on about 100 separate
occasions in the past 24 hours. As well as the nine dead, 26 troops
had been wounded.
In eastern Ukraine, regional police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin said
seven civilians had been killed by shelling in Debaltseve and
another frontline town of Avdiivka on Sunday.
(additinal reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Richard Balmforth, Noah
Barkin, Lidia Kelly, Denis Pinchuk, Warren Strobel, Matt Spetalnick
and Lesley Wroughton; writing by David Stamp, Editing by Sonya
Hepinstall)
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