Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (second right) meets servicemen during a visit to Donetsk region in June

The new US special representative for Ukraine says Washington is actively reviewing whether to send weapons to help those fighting against Russian-backed rebels. The new U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Kurt Volker, says Washington is considering sending Kyiv weapons to help government forces defend themselves against Russia-backed separatists. It comes as Moscow warns against fueling Ukraine's civil war.In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, Volker, who was appointed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as the US special representative for Ukraine negotiations in July, said that US authorities are pondering whether to ship armaments to Kiev.Noting that the discussion is currently focused on "defensive weapons, ones that would allow Ukraine to defend itself and to take out tanks, for example," Volker argued that such supplies "would actually to help [sic]" Kiev fend off alleged encroachments from Moscow.Volker fell short of providing any indication of when such a deal could be reached between Washington and Kiev, saying that he is "not again predicting where we go on this. Volker fell short of providing any indication of when such a deal could be reached between Washington and Kiev, saying that he is “not again predicting where we go on this.”

However, he claimed that despite the unresolved conflict in eastern Ukraine, Washington does not view such a move as “provocative.”

“I think that argument that it would be provocative to Russia or emboldening of Ukraine is just getting it backwards,” Volker told the BBC, adding that the US believes a “new strategic dialogue” with Moscow is needed to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, which has recently seen a spike in violence. Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into freefall after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of a pro-Russian insurgency in the eastern Donbass region.
Kurt Volker, U.S. special representative for Ukraine, says in a BBC News interview that the White House is considering arming Ukrainian government forces fighting Pro-Russian militants with defensive weapons.