Kerry arrives in Ukraine for new push in talks

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday amid a fresh push in talks as the ceasefire there has unraveled.

The visit comes as the White House has made known that it is considering providing arms to the Ukrainian army in its fight against pro-Russian separatists. Vice President Biden is due to arrive in Brussels for talks with European leaders on Thursday as well. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande are also traveling to Kiev on Thursday, before heading on to Moscow to try to reach a new agreement to end the fighting. 

A ceasefire was reached in September, but it has not held. 

Merkel’s spokesman said the trip comes because of the “escalating violence in recent days,” the Guardian reports.

“We have a Russian government that is talking the talk of cease-fire, talking the talk of peace, even as it fuels this conflict,” a senior State Department official said in a briefing, The New York Times reports. 

“So the question is: If the governments of Ukraine, of the United States, of Europe are appealing now for a new sit-down, will the Kremlin spurn that or will they sit down?” the official added. “And will they push their proxies to do the same?”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest earlier this week left open the possibility of providing arms to Ukraine. 

“The president’s view continues to be that this administration needs to be continually assessing what our strategy should be,” he said. 

Defense Secretary nominee Ash Carter said Wednesday that he is “inclined” to provide arms to Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, Kerry is looking for a diplomatic solution. The Ukrainian government tweeted pictures of his Thursday meeting with President Petro Poroshenko.

President of Ukraine @Poroshenko is having a meeting with US Secretary of State @JohnKerry pic.twitter.com/ZGSDsOKnlS

— APU (@APUkraine) February 5, 2015