Report: U.S. now considering sending arms to Ukraine forces

President Barack Obama’s administration is taking a new look at providing Ukrainian forces with defensive weapons and equipment in the face of a rebel offensive that shattered a five-month truce, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey were open to discussions of the idea, and that NATO military commander General Philip Breedlove now supported providing such lethal aid. Kerry will visit Kiev on Thursday for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other Ukrainian officials. Fighting raged in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as pro-Russian separatists used artillery fire to try to dislodge government forces from a strategic rail hub after peace talks collapsed.

Although our focus remains on pursuing a solution through diplomatic means, we are always evaluating other options that will help create space for a negotiated solution to the crisis.

Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council