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WASHINGTON
Vladimir Putin

U.S. will send more aid to Ukraine, Kerry says

Erin Kelly
USA TODAY
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the 51st Security Conference in Munich.

WASHINGTON — The United States will send more economic help and "other kinds" of assistance to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russian-backed rebels, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday.

Kerry said he could not provide any details of possible military equipment that the United States might send to help Ukraine fight the rebels.

"I have no doubt that additional assistance of economic kind and other kinds will be going to Ukraine," Kerry said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. "We do so understanding that there is no military solution. The solution is a political, diplomatic one."

Kerry's comments came as the Obama administration is under increasing pressure from Congress to provide heavy artillery to Ukraine while, at the same, time U.S. allies in Europe are trying to convince President Obama not to arm the nation.

"We need to be providing defensive arms to the people of Ukraine," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's This Week on Sunday. "We have a treaty obligation to stand with them." Cruz added that he doesn't believe the Obama administration is honoring that obligation.

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But German, French and British leaders are urging the United States not to provide arms to the country because they believe it will only exacerbate the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to come here Monday to try to convince Obama and Congress not to provide weapons to Ukraine. Merkel is scheduled to meet with Obama and with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are pushing a cease-fire proposal and plan to meet Wednesday in Belarus with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss a peace plan.

"The problem is that I cannot envisage any situation in which an improved equipment of the Ukrainian army leads to a situation where President Putin is so impressed that he will lose militarily," Merkel said in a speech Saturday. "There's no way to win this militarily — that's the bitter truth. The international community has to think of a different approach."


But Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Putin doesn't want a diplomatic solution.

"He wants to dominate Ukraine, as well as Russia's other neighbors," McCain said Sunday at the 2015 Munich Security Conference in Germany. "He may make tactical compromises here or there, but just as a prelude to further aggression."

McCain said the United States must provide defensive arms to Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian people are not asking any of us to fight their war for them," McCain said. "They are willing to defend their country. They have been doing so for an entire year. Some say Ukraine cannot defeat Russia militarily. That is the wrong question. The right question is: If we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country, how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening?"

Kerry said the solution to the conflict lies with Putin.

"President Putin's got to make the decision to take an off-ramp," Kerry said. "We have to make it clear to him that we are absolutely committed to the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine no matter what."

Putin is leaving the United States and its allies with few choices, Kerry said.

"He is leaving the global community with no choice but to continue to either put more sanctions in place (against Russia) or to provide additional assistance to Ukraine," Kerry said.

While Putin has been successful in whipping up nationalist fervor in Russia, Kerry predicted it won't last.

"I'm convinced — I think most people are convinced — that each month that goes by, that will catch up to him, ultimately, in Russia itself," Kerry said. "The nationalistic card is playing for the moment. But ultimately, people want their lives to be better."



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