President Obama is considering sending lethal weapons to Ukraine as the country battles pro-Russian rebels, his Secretary of State John Kerry has said.
Mr Kerry said the US President will make a decision "soon" about supplying arms to the country, where a civil war is under way in the east of the country.
His comments came as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Kiev for talks about a ceasefire.
Mr Kerry told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk: "The president is reviewing all of his options, among those options is the possibility of providing defensive systems to Ukraine.
"The president will make his decision soon but not before he has had a chance to hear back from myself and others."
He added that Washington would prefer a diplomatic solution and that the US backed a "helpful" peace plan Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande are expected to present to Mr Putin on Friday.
Mr Kerry said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had the ability to end the war in Ukraine.
More than 5,000 people are thought to have died in the ongoing conflict which erupted in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea last March.
Separatists allying themselves with Moscow have been fighting with Ukrainian troops as they attempt to set up independent states in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Kiev has accused Russia of arming the rebels and sending manpower and equipment over the border - something Russia denies.
In the US, Republican Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain said the Senate would write legislation requiring the provision of arms to Ukraine if Mr Obama did not send them.
The US earlier agreed to give $16.4m (£10.7m) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
During a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Mr Kerry warned the US would not "close our eyes" to Russian tanks and fighters crossing the border.
Merkel and Francois Hollande will head to Moscow with a new initiative which they say is "based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine".
A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Vladimir Putin was ready to hold constructive talks with the European leaders and that Russia would "do everything it can" to help resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
However, he claimed the Ukrainian government was using weapons in the conflict zone which had effects similar to those of weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, NATO defence ministers agreed to immediately set up six bases in eastern Europe and establish a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg revealed.
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Britain have agreed to take the lead in forming the spearhead force, which would be available to deploy within a week.
Britain will provide 1,000 of those troops. A Russian government spokesman said the move was "very worrying".
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