With the crisis in Ukraine continuing to escalate, the U.S. State Secretary John Kerry arrived in Kiev on Thursday to hold meetings with Ukrainian authorities in order to provide U.S. humanitarian aid worth $16.4 million. The delivery of lethal weaponry to Ukraine is also on the U.S. agenda, as the Kiev government said that they are desperately in need of military assistance to defend the country and turn back the renewed pro-Russian separatists' advances in the restive east of the country."We need to support the Ukrainians in defending themselves," the President Barack Obama's nominee for Pentagon chief, Ashton Carter, said during a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.The Obama administration has been inclined to support lethal weapons transfers to Ukraine while putting pressure on NATO members to engage more actively in the situation by providing lethal military assistance to the Kiev government. In a report entitled "Preserving Ukraine's Independence, Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United States and NATO Must Do," it urges the U.S. leadership to end the months-long crisis in eastern Ukraine in cooperation with NATO. "The United States and NATO must respond, both to support Ukraine and to push back against Russia's unacceptable challenge to the post-war European security order. This will require more military assistance, some of it lethal, but none of it offensive," the February 2015 report concludes, stressing the need to provide military aid to bolster Ukraine's defense to deter Russian aggression on Ukraine's territory. Other than the proposed weapon deliveries, the report prepared by the former American diplomats called upon the Obama administration to provide the Kiev government with $1 billion in annual military assistance.However, the proposed lethal military assistance to Ukraine was welcomed by the Senate committee. The limits that Obama has set on assistance to allies like Ukraine has long been criticized by Republicans. Other than Ukraine, the U.S. arms deliveries to Jordan were also discussed in the Senate. Senator John McCain, an outspoken critic of the Obama administration's national security policies urged Washington to step up the fight against potential threats to U.S. national security, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).Regarding the recent ramping-up of the conflict and its rising civilian casualties in eastern Ukraine, NATO announced that it would bolster their alliance in eastern Europe against the possible Russian threat by increasing the response force to an overall 30,000 people from around 13,000 high-readiness troops. Russia remains the biggest challenge for the North Atlantic alliance. Russian military presence inside Ukraine's border, which has been confirmed by the U.S., is viewed as a violation of international law and Ukrainian territorial integrity.Amid the U.S.'s recent assertive move on the Ukraine crisis, the top three U.S. administration officials, Vice President Joe Biden and outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel were in Europe this week to discuss the Ukraine crisis and Russian aggression with NATO members. The U.S. top officials' visit to Europe demonstrates Washington's desire to act together with NATO members. However, major European allies France and Germany oppose the White House's deliberations, saying that the conflict should not be resolved militarily.Meanwhile, the U.S.'s European allies have tried to find a political solution to the Ukraine crisis as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande travelled to Kiev then Moscow to present a new initiative for peace in eastern Ukraine. French President Hollande criticized the ongoing diplomatic efforts of Western countries and urged for alternative options to halt the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine, saying that the mediating efforts "cannot go on indefinitely."Opposing the U.S.'s pressure to send arms to Kiev, the EU also pushed for a diplomatic offensive with fighting escalating in eastern Ukraine. "The European Union supports all the initiatives aimed at bringing a political solution to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine," the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. "The European Union is united in using all the means available to push for a political solution, by applying pressure as well as continuing dialogue."