BERLIN / BUDAPEST
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out Monday providing arms to Ukraine in the face of growing instability in the eastern part of the country.
The U.S. administration had been considering providing Ukrainian forces with defensive weapons and equipment, a recent report by the New York Times claimed.
"Germany will not support Ukraine with weapons. I am firmly convinced that this conflict cannot be resolved through military means," Merkel said in Budapest on Monday, in a joint press conference with her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.
German deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz had also expressed caution about the recent media reports in a press conference in Berlin on Monday.
"The U.S. administration has so far been against providing any lethal weapons to Ukraine. The German government has no knowledge of a change in that policy," Wirtz said.
Eastern Ukraine has seen intense clashes between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists since the conflict began in April 2014.
More than 5,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict, according to the UN.
