Angela Merkel, the German chancellor desperately working to reach a diplomatic accord ending unrest in eastern Ukraine, continued her efforts at the White House Monday, urging President Obama to forestall sending lethal aid to Kiev.
It was the latest bid in Merkel’s shuttle diplomacy, which has taken the East Germany-born chancellor from Kiev to Moscow to the White House in just a matter of days. She’s headed to Belarus for more talks on Ukraine on Wednesday.
Obama and Merkel hope to display a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government has backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Tough economic sanctions levied both by the United States and Europe have severely degraded Russia’s economy, but until now haven’t stopped Putin from his territorial campaign.
The show of unity could be weakened if Obama decides to follow the advice of a bipartisan group of lawmakers and former administration officials pushing for greater lethal aid to Kiev. Under pressure from American lawmakers and former administration officials, the White House has said it’s reconsidering whether or not to send arms to Ukrainian troops, a move Obama has so far rejected.
Obama has been reluctant to send lethal aid overseas in the multiple world crises he’s faced, citing the potential for the arms to wind up in the hands of enemies. In Ukraine, administration officials say they’re worried that shipments of U.S. weapons could elevate the unrest there into a proxy war with Russia. And they’re unsure of the Ukrainians’ ability to effectively use American-supplied arms.
Republicans and Democrats have pressed the topic both in the United States and overseas. Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a security conference in Munich this weekend that Ukrainian troops were woefully underprepared for battle.
“The Ukrainians are being slaughtered and we’re sending them blankets and meals. Blankets don’t do well against Russian tanks,” McCain said, echoing the plea Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made to Congress in September.
Others who are closer to Obama, including the president’s former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy and his current nominee to become defense secretary Ashton Carter, have also said they believe the U.S. should supply Kiev with lethal aid.
Merkel has staunchly opposed that tack, arguing more military aid could escalate the crisis further.
“The progress that Ukraine needs cannot be achieved with more weapons,” she said over the weekend. “I have grave doubts about the validity of this point.”
Merkel has positioned herself as the diplomatic envoy between the West and Russia, traveling to Moscow last week for closed-door meetings with Putin and French President Francois Hollande. The summit, however, concluded without a clear path toward ending the escalating violence in Eastern Ukraine.
A weekend telephone call between Merkel, Putin, Hollande and Poroshenko ended with the leaders agreeing to meet in Belarus on Wednesday, though firm details of the session weren’t finalized.
The European leaders — recognizing their country’s stronger economic ties to Russia — have been eager to broker a ceasefire diplomatically, a goal that so far has remained elusive.
Obama, who released a National Security Strategy last week with a heavy emphasis on diplomacy, has held similar views, saying the crisis in Ukraine won’t end militarily.
But so far diplomacy has produced few results. A September agreement calling for drawback of heavy arms and a buffer zone disintegrated shortly after it was signed. Subsequent calls to adhere to the plan were ignored.