KYIV. Feb 6 (Interfax) - The United States President Barack Obama is studying various options of aiding Ukraine, including providing defensive weapons, says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The president is re-examining all possibilities (of providing aid for Ukraine), and one such possibility is to provide defensive assistance for Ukraine, Kerry told a press conference held jointly with Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk in Kyiv on Thursday.
He said the discussions were underway and Obama will make the decision very soon.
At the same time, the U.S. president will first hear Kerry's opinion upon his return from Ukraine and take account of the opinions of European partners at the Munich Security Conference and German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Washington next Monday, Kerry said.
The president will make the decision when he sees fit or whenever he is ready, the U.S. diplomat said.
At the same time he stressed that Obama sees a diplomatic solution as the best way to resolve the conflict. Obama favors a diplomat solution reached through negotiations, Kerry said. The U.S. is not keen on being a third party in a war, the state secretary stressed.
For his part, Yatseniuk noted that Ukraine is seeking help to increase its fighting capabilities for defensive, not offensive purposes.
"The Russian aggression is a threat to common order, European security and NATO members. We want to secure peace, but to do so we need to defend our country and we must restrain Russians and not allow the Russian armed forces move farther and deeper into our country," Yatseniuk said.
Ukraine has done all it can to implement the Minsk accords, but Russia, contrary to its claims, has done nothing and continued escalating the conflict, he added.