CLOSE President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented a united front against Russia in talks at the White House, saying they would continue to mount diplomatic and economic pressure to get Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. VPC 
 
 President Obama listens to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel during a joint news conference at the East Room of the White House Monday. Obama and Merkel met in Washington to discuss a wide variety of issues including Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, counter-terrorism, international trade and the forthcoming G-7 Summit in June 2015. EPA/MICHAEL KAPPELER ORG XMIT: FAX202 (Photo: MICHAEL KAPPELER, EPA) 
 
 WASHINGTON — President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented a united front against Russia in talks at the White House Monday, saying they would continue to mount diplomatic and economic pressure to get Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. 
 
 There were hints of disagreements about what the strategy might be if those efforts fail, but both leaders kept the nature of those disagreements behind closed doors. 
 
 At a joint press conference following their morning meeting in the Oval Office, Obama said he was "very encouraged about the extent to which we've been able to maintain U.S.-European unity on this issue." 
 
 "We are in absolute agreement that the 21st century cannot have us stand idle and allow the borders of Europe to be redrawn by the barrel of a gun," Obama said. But then he also suggested that there may be "tactical disagreements" about what happens if diplomatic efforts fail. 
 
 Those disagreements stem from the possibility of military aid to Ukraine to fend off pro-Russian separatists. "The possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that's being examined," Obama said. Merkel opposes that course. 
 
 Both Obama and Merkel said no decision has been made about military options. 
 
 "I've always said I don't see a military solution in this conflict, but we have to put all our efforts behind a diplomatic solution," Merkel said, speaking in German. "But if, at a certain point in time, one has to say that a success is not possible, even if one puts every effort into it, then the United States and Europe have to sit together and try and explore further possibilities, what one can do." 
 
 The meeting comes amid a whirlwind of airplane diplomacy among NATO powers Ukraine and Russia. With talks in Munich and Kiev unable to forge a diplomatic solution last week, the two sides announced a new summit Wednesday in Minsk. 
 
 But other issues were also on the agenda. Obama focused largely on security concerns: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iran and the Islamic State. Merkel opened her remarks by talking about trade and economics. 
 
 The two leaders also discussed what's become a sore point in their relationship: Revelations that the U.S. National Secuerity Agency spied on Merkel as part of a vast electronic surveillance effort revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. 
 
 Merkel acknowledged the privacy concerns, but said the information provided by the U.S. spy agency was indispensable. "If we look at the sheer dimension of the terrorist threat, we are more than aware of the fact that we need to work together very closely," she said. 
 
 Obama said the issue was complicated. 
 
 "There's no doubt that the Snowden revelations damaged impressions of Germans with respect to the U.S. government and our intelligence cooperation," he said. "And what I have done over the last year, year and a half is to systematically work through some of these issues to create greater transparency and to restore confidence, not just for Germans, but for our partners around the world." 
 
 The Obama-Merkel press conference followed a morning meeting in the Oval Office with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, national security adviser Susan Rice and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes. On Merkel's side were her foreign policy adviser, Christoph Heusgen, economic adviser Lars-Hendrik Roeller and spokesman Steffen Seibert 
 
 Also on the schedule Monday: a "working lunch" with Obama, Merkel and Biden. 
 
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 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Dct5MC ||||| MOSCOW — As the deadly violence in Ukraine ramps up, so does the international scramble to find a solution. 
 
 President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met to discuss the crisis Monday in Washington, while in Brussels, Belgium, the European Union agreed on new sanctions against pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine and their supporters. 
 
 In a joint news conference with Merkel, Obama said Russia has “violated just about every commitment” it made in the September Minsk agreement meant to help end the fighting in Ukraine. 
 
 “Instead of withdrawing from eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continue to operate there, training separatists and helping to coordinate attacks,” he said. 
 
 But the organization opted to delay implementing the sanctions for a week, to give more opportunity for a negotiated solution to take hold, EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini told reporters. 
 
 The top priority, she said, “is to improve things on the ground,” where escalating fighting is taking a toll on civilians. 
 
 In Washington, Obama and Merkel were expected to discuss proposals to send lethal aid to the Ukrainian military. Merkel says that’s a bad idea. 
 
 “The progress that Ukraine needs cannot be achieved with more weapons,” she said. “I have grave doubts about the validity of this point.” 
 
 Merkel said she believes that if the West sends weapons to Ukraine, Russia could further step up its involvement in the conflict, possibly introducing its air force into the fight. 
 
 But U.S. Sen. John McCain, who supports arming Ukraine, said it’s a “harsh reality” that Russia’s military is supporting pro-Russian separatist rebels in Ukraine. 
 
 He said Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want a diplomatic solution, he wants to dominate Ukraine as well as Russia’s other neighbors.” 
 
 The crisis comes nearly a year after Ukrainian officials and the U.S. government accused Russia of flooding Crimea with troops ahead of its widely disputed annexation of the territory in March 2014. 
 
 Similar allegations of Russian military involvement have been made about the current conflict in eastern Ukraine, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk recently saying his forces are fighting not with local militants, but “with the Russian regular army.” 
 
 Russian officials have denied the claims, saying the fighting is between what it calls a fascist government in Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists. Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the Russian government would “continue actively facilitating a peaceful settlement” to the conflict. 
 
 But some Western leaders continue to slam Putin. On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Putin was acting like a “mid-20th century tyrant.” 
 
 Hammond told Sky News that Russia’s behavior was “outrageous and outdated” and warned that Putin will “pay the price for what he is doing in Ukraine.” 
 
 Sketchy peace talks 
 
 The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France spoke by phone over the weekend and planned a face-to-face meeting Wednesday in Belarus. 
 
 But even that gathering, which could be a significant meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, isn’t set in stone. 
 
 “We are planning for Wednesday if we succeed in settling the various points that we have discussed so intensively over these last days,” Putin said Sunday. 
 
 The big challenge facing Putin, Poroshenko, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande is whether they can reach a peace agreement that will stick. 
 
 A peace agreement was signed in September in Minsk, Belarus. It called for a drawback of heavy weapons, self-rule in the eastern regions and a buffer zone to be set up along the Russia-Ukraine border. 
 
 But the agreement quickly disintegrated, and the violence continued. 
 
 The new plan envisions a much broader demilitarized zone to run along the current front lines. 
 
 All the while, the crisis in Ukraine, which stemmed from a trade agreement, has killed more than 5,000 people, including many civilians. 
 
 At least 224 civilians were killed in the final three weeks of January alone, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said. 
 
 Explosion rattles facility in Donetsk 
 
 On Sunday, a strong explosion rocked what the website for the city of Donetsk referred to as a chemical goods plant. 
 
 However, Dmytro Yarosh, a Ukrainian lawmaker and Right Sector battalion commander, wrote on Facebook that Ukrainian artillery hit a warehouse containing BM-21 GRAD rocket launchers. On Monday, a European diplomat echoed the claim, telling CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh that the facility was probably an arms depot or factory in a separatist-held area of Donetsk. 
 
 Buildings in the area were damaged in the Sunday blast, including homes, but no casualties have been reported. 
 
 Eduard Basurin, deputy defense minister of the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic, accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack that caused the explosion. 
 
 The Ukrainian Defense Ministry wouldn’t say if the blast was the result of an attack by its military. ||||| As the leaders of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia agreed to meet in Belarus to try and broker a peace deal, Mr Hammond appeared on Sky News to denounce the Kremlin's behaviour as "outrageous and outdated". 
 
 The US is considering moves to provide additional supplies and arms to the government in Ukraine - as Russia has been accused of doing with sectarian rebels - but the EU has denied the emergence of a transatlantic rift on the issue. 
 
 After meeting the Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she respected the internal debate on the subject in the US and "it is up to them to discuss and decide". 
 
 Defence Secretary Philip Hammond with the US Secretary of State John Kerry "We are united when it comes to support to Ukraine ... we are united when it comes to economic pressure and we are united also on ... the need to have a political dialogue," she said. 
 
 Mr Hammond said a decision on whether Britain would also help arm the Ukrainian military was “under review”, but demanded Russia withdraw its troops not only from Donetsk but also from Crimea, which Putin annexed in March last year. 
 
 “Don't make it sound like that is an outrageous thing for us to demand [of Mr Putin],” the minister told Sky News’ Murnaghan programme. 
 
 “This man has sent troops across an international border and occupied another country's territory in the 21st century acting like some mid-20th century tyrant. 
 
 “We do not behave like that. Civilised nations do not behave like that in the 21st century. We live in a rules-based society. We want the Russian people to be part of that international community. 
 
 “We want Russia to enjoy the kind of economic growth and rising standards of living that people in the rest of Europe enjoy and we do not see any reason to tolerate this kind of outrageous and outdated behaviour from the Kremlin.” 
 
 After a joint phone call today involving Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel, the French president Francois Hollande, Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin, the four agreed to talks in Minsk which will aim to agree an immediate ceasefire. 
 
 French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking on French television, said he feared a "dramatic spiral" in violence if dialogue with Moscow did not succeed. 
 
 Mr Hammond dismissed an earlier claim from France’s Mr Hollande that current talks were the “last chance for peace” in Ukraine – noting that a military conflict is already under way. But he agreed that a political solution was the only way to end the crisis, adding that “the Kremlin, Mr Putin, has to understand he will pay a political and economic price for what he is doing in the Ukraine”. 
 
 At least 5,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, when the country's Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovich was forced out during mass street protests in Kiev. ||||| CARDIFF, Wales — President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain have called on NATO to reject “isolationist” impulses and confront the rising terrorist threat posed by Sunni militants in the Middle East, saying the United States and Britain “will not be cowed by barbaric killers.” 
 
 “We will not waver in our determination to confront” the militant group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, the two leaders wrote in a joint opinion piece published in Thursday’s editions of The Times of London. “If terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats they could not be more wrong.” 
 
 Their pointed words came as leaders gathered in Wales for a NATO summit meeting that was intended to focus on responding to Russia’s escalating military intervention in Ukraine. On the sidelines of the meeting, however, American and British efforts to assemble and lead an international coalition against ISIS are expected to predominate. 
 
 “The international community as a whole has an obligation to stop the Islamic State from advancing further,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, said at a news conference on Thursday. But he noted that there had been no request from Iraq for NATO assistance in confronting the group. 
 
 Continue reading the main story Video 
 
 Mr. Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy will meet with President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine to discuss the crisis in his country, which will also be the topic of an afternoon meeting where allies will consider sending additional assistance to Kiev. 
 
 Before they met, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, warned that Ukraine’s efforts to form an alliance with NATO threatened to short-circuit talks to end the fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. 
 
 Mr. Lavrov, in televised remarks in Moscow, said that discussions between top Ukrainian officials and NATO leaders were “a blatant attempt to derail all the efforts” to reach a negotiated settlement in Ukraine, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 NATO leaders will also discuss winding down the alliance’s combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of the year and shifting it to a training and assistance mission, although details of the transition cannot be finalized until Afghans resolve a disputed presidential election. 
 
 In their joint editorial, Mr. Obama and Mr. Cameron argued that ISIS is as immediate a threat to the security of NATO members as is the behavior of Russia, which they wrote had “ripped up the rule book” by annexing Crimea and sending its troops into Ukraine. Russia has denied any military involvement in Ukraine. 
 
 “Whether it is regional aggression going unchecked or the prospect that foreign fighters could return from Iraq and Syria to pose a threat in our countries, the problems we face today threaten the security of British and American people, and the wider world,” they wrote. 
 
 Mr. Obama and Mr. Cameron argued that NATO must transition to a “more effective security network that fosters stability around the world,” urging member nations to bolster military spending. 
 
 They also called for keeping a “persistent” NATO defensive presence in Eastern Europe to make clear to Russia that the alliance is serious about the defense of all of its members, and expressed support for a rapid-response force — expected to be endorsed by NATO allies this week — including land, air, maritime and special forces “that could deploy anywhere in the world at very short notice.” ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Barack Obama says the Russian people will realise they will not achieve their aims through brute force 
 
 The US and EU are discussing "deeper sanctions" against Russia if there are "further incursions into Ukraine". 
 
 US President Barack Obama said "energy is obviously a central focus of our efforts", acknowledging it "will have some impact on the global economy". 
 
 He was speaking after talks in Brussels with EU leaders. 
 
 In a keynote speech later, he said Russians "will recognise that they cannot achieve security, prosperity and status... through brute force". 
 
 "That's why, throughout this crisis, we will combine our substantial pressure on Russia with an open door for diplomacy," he told an audience at the end of his visit to Brussels. 
 
 Tensions are high between the West and Russia after Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russian forces earlier this month after a referendum which Kiev and its Western allies considered illegal. 
 
 'Disgrace' 
 
 Mr Obama, along with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso, stressed EU and US unity on the issue of Ukraine. 
 
 "The world is safer and more just when Europe and America stand as one," Mr Obama said. Mr Van Rompuy called it a "crucial" relationship. 
 
 Mr Obama praised the 28-nation EU bloc for the steps it had already taken - along with the US - to penalise Russia. These have included visa bans and asset freezes against a number of Russian officials. 
 
 He said those actions were taken after Russian forces moved in to annex Crimea, and they now must consider "the potential for additional, deeper sanctions" should Moscow attempt to do the same in other parts of Ukraine. 
 
 "We recognise that in order for Russia to feel the impact of these sanctions, it will have some impact on the global economy as well as on all the countries represented here today," Mr Obama said. 
 
 Acknowledging that some EU countries were more dependent than others on Russia for energy, he said "this entire event has pointed to the need for Europe to look at how it can further diversify its energy sources". 
 
 And he said Nato must remain a "regular presence" in those eastern European countries which feel vulnerable to possible Russian intervention. He also voiced concern at the falling defence budgets of some countries. 
 
 Mr Van Rompuy called Russia's actions in Crimea "a disgrace in the 21st Century, and we will not recognise it". 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The US presidential limousine leaves Mr Obama's hotel in central Brussels on Wednesday morning 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Security is high as the motorcade carrying the president drives through empty streets in the capital 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Obama flew to Brussels after starting his European tour with a nuclear summit in The Hague 
 
 Pro-Russian forces began moving it to take key sites in Crimea days after Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted. He left power following months of bloody protests over his decision to seek greater ties with Moscow rather than the EU. 
 
 Remembering WW1 
 
 This is Mr Obama's first official visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels. 
 
 He began his trip to Belgium with a visit to a cemetery in Flanders, where US soldiers killed in World War One are buried. 
 
 He paid tribute to fallen US soldiers at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Waregem, to mark 100 years since the start of WW1. Belgian King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio di Rupo were also in attendance. 
 
 Mr Obama's talks with Mr Van Rompuy and Mr Barroso also covered plans to finalise a transatlantic trade partnership, as well as efforts to tackle Iran's nuclear programme and Syria's chemical weapons. 
 
 He then met Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen before delivering his keynote speech in Brussels' Palace of Fine Art. 
 
 The president flew in on Tuesday evening from the Dutch city of The Hague where he attended a summit on nuclear security with other world leaders. 
 
 Security is high in the Belgian capital, with police cordoning off areas near the EU headquarters and Mr Obama's hotel. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The presidential helicopter Marine One lands near the US military cemetery in Waregem 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Barack Obama is seen disembarking from the Marine One helicopter 
 
 Some extra 800 police officers have been deployed on Brussels' streets for the duration of Mr Obama's visit. 
 
 In total, Belgium has spent 10m euros (£8.35m) on increased security. 
 
 The US president will stay in Brussels for less than 24 hours before travelling to Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's national security adviser said Sunday it would be a "grave mistake" for Russia to intervene militarily in Ukraine. 
 
 Susan Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that in Obama's phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday the two agreed that a political settlement in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, should ensure the unity of the country and the right of Ukrainians to express their free will. She was asked whether the White House fears Putin will send Russian troops into Ukraine. 
 
 "That would be a grave mistake," she said. "It's not in the interest of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or the United States to see the country split." 
 
 Protesters took to the streets of Kiev late last year after President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned an agreement that would have strengthened his country's ties with the European Union in favor of seeking closer cooperation with Moscow. 
 
 Rice said that in the weeks ahead, Washington will cooperate with Europe and international organizations to help the Ukrainian economy, which she described as fragile. 
 
 Speaking on a separate Sunday show, Republican Sen. John McCain, a frequent critic of Obama's foreign policy, echoed some of the same themes as Rice on seeking to help Ukraine. 
 
 He said the United States needs to be clear with Putin that Ukrainians must be allowed to determine their own future and that partitioning the nation would be unacceptable. 
 
 "They want to be Western," McCain said on CBS's "Face the Nation." ''That's what this whole hundreds of thousands in the square was all about. They don't want to be Eastern." 
 
 McCain said he has spoken with an array of Ukrainians in the opposition movement in recent days. They are overjoyed, McCain said, but they are also worried about the economy. 
 
 "Their economic situation is so dire that literally the economy is on the verge of collapse and they're going to need help immediately," McCain said.
– To arm or not to arm Ukraine is the question—and although the US and Germany may not agree on the answer to that question, for now they're presenting a unified front in finding a solution to Ukraine's conflict with Russia. President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a joint press conference this morning at the White House, declaring that Russian aggression against Ukraine has only strengthened the resolve of Europe and the US to work toward a resolution, the AP reports. "We are in absolute agreement that the 21st century cannot have us stand idle and allow the borders of Europe to be redrawn by the barrel of a gun," Obama said, per USA Today. The sticking point between the two countries lies in what Obama calls "tactical disagreements": whether or not to send lethal aid to Ukraine. The US has so far only provided Ukraine with non-lethal assistance. Merkel—who, along with French President Francois Hollande, met with Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last week and is scheduled to meet with them again Wednesday—doesn't believe arming Ukraine is wise. Although Obama noted that Putin has "violated just about every commitment" in striving for a peaceful solution, Merkel said the "progress that Ukraine needs cannot be achieved with more weapons," per CNN; she added she fears Russia could increase military action if that happens. Sen. John McCain, however, said that "[Putin] does not want a diplomatic solution, he wants to dominate Ukraine as well as Russia's other neighbors," and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calls the Russian leader a "mid-20th century tyrant," the Independent notes. The European Union agreed to new sanctions against Russia today, though it decided to delay the sanctions for one week to see if a peace plan can be reached.