US President Barack Obama says no decision has been made on whether to send weapons to Ukraine to help Kiev battle pro-Russian separatists.

Obama, who has faced increasing calls from domestic critics to supply the outmatched Ukrainian army with more weapons to shore up its faltering defenses, said on Monday he was still mulling his options.

“The possibility of lethal defence is one of those options that’s being examined. But I have not made a decision about that yet,” Obama told a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel and many European nations believe weapons would not overturn the military mismatch between Ukraine and pro-Russian forces allegedly backed by Moscow, and would simply escalate a conflict that has left 5,00 people dead in less than a year.

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Merkel has sought to negotiate a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin after joining crisis talks in Moscow last week with French President Francois Hollande.

A summit of leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia is tentatively planned for later this week, after Merkel leaves Washington.

Obama meanwhile warned that the West could not allow Russia to rewrite Europe’s borders “at the barrel of a gun”.

“We continue to encourage a diplomatic resolution to this issue,” Obama said.

“And as diplomatic efforts continue this week, we’re in absolute agreement that the 21st century cannot stand idle, have us stand idle and simply allow the borders of Europe to be redrawn at the barrel of a gun.”

Merkel meanwhile said that abandoning the principle of territorial integrity at the heart of the Ukraine crisis posed a threat to the “peaceful order of Europe.”

“For somebody who comes from Europe, I can only say, if we give up this principle of territorial integrity, we will not be able to maintain the peaceful order of Europe,” Merkel said.