High-end summit on Ukraine crisis planned

Steffen Seibert said the decision follows an “extensive” phone call this morning between the four leaders, during which further measures for a peace plan were discussed.

Mr Seibert said preparations for the summit will take place tomorrow in Berlin, without elaborating.

The aim is to draw up a package of measures that breathes new life into the much-violated September peace plan.

There will also be a meeting in Minsk by Wednesday of the signatories to last September’s accord, including Russia, Ukraine and representatives of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Before the summit Mrs Merkel, who met Mr Putin on Friday night in Moscow, is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama in Washington tomorrow on a previously scheduled trip.

At an international security conference in Munich, US secretary of state John Kerry said the US and its European allies are “united in our diplomacy” on Ukraine. He said the US supports efforts by France and Germany to produce a new plan to end the conflict that is now raging in east Ukraine.

Kerry denied that there is a US-Europe rift over how to respond to the crisis and how to deal with Russia’s role in it despite a debate over whether to arm the government in Kiev.

“There is no division, there is no split,” Mr Kerry said. “I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together.”

His comments came amid reports of a deep transatlantic rift over the Obama administration’s consideration of providing defensive weaponry to Kiev.

Germany and France oppose such a move, saying it could lead to an escalation and that they do not believe the conflict can be resolved militarily. Russia, which is accused of supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, has said the introduction of US-supplied weaponry will have grave consequences.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking alongside Mr Kerry, reiterated that he considers delivering weapons “not just highly risky but counterproductive”.

Mr Kerry said the United States agrees that there is no military solution to the Ukraine crisis that has now killed more than 5,300 people, according to the United Nations.

At the same time, US officials said Mr Obama is rethinking his previous opposition to sending arms to Ukraine despite fears it could lead to a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. The officials have, however, suggested that any such weaponry would be intended to help Kiev defend itself once a peace agreement is reached.

Mr Kerry likened the US-European debate over arms to previous consultations over the breadth and strength of sanctions against Russia.

“The discussion taking place today is absolutely no different – it’s tactical, it is not strategic,” Mr Kerry said. “On the fundamental goal with respect to Ukraine, we are absolutely united ... we want a diplomatic solution.”