John McCain Says Russia Testing US In Ukraine, Urges Donald Trump To Hit Back

Russia is testing President Donald Trump with a surge of violence in eastern Ukraine and the US president should give Ukraine the lethal aid it needs to defend against the attacks, Senator John McCain said in a letter to Trump on Thursday.

Renewed violence flared this week between Moscow-backed rebels and Ukraine government forces that has caused the highest casualty rate since mid-December and cut off power and water to thousands of civilians on both sides of the frontline.

"That this surge of attacks began the day after he talked with you by phone is a clear indication that Vladimir Putin is moving quickly to test you as commander in chief. America's response will have lasting consequences," McCain said in a letter to Trump released by his office.

Washington has supplied aid to Ukraine including drones, radar, first-aid kits, night vision and communications gear as part Democratic President Barack Obama's strategy of providing non-lethal military assistance while focusing on sanctions and diplomacy to end the war.

McCain urged Trump to use his authority under an existing defence policy law to provide lethal assistance to Ukraine.

"Vladimir Putin's violent campaign to destabilise and dismember the sovereign nation of Ukraine will not stop unless and until he meets a strong and determined response," McCain wrote.

Some of the most prominent Republican lawmakers in Congress have called for Ukraine to receive lethal arms.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to use its "considerable influence" with separatist rebels to end the violence, which brought the festering conflict back into focus amid warnings of a looming humanitarian crisis in freezing winter temperatures.

The fighting marked the first significant escalation of violence in Ukraine since the Jan. 20 inauguration of Trump, whose call for better relations with Moscow has alarmed Kiev with the conflict unresolved.

McCain also urged Trump to expand current sanctions against Russia that were put in place after its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, also cautioned the Trump administration on Thursday against easing sanctions on Moscow.

Such a move would be "staggeringly dangerous because the sanctions on Russia because of their aggressive military behaviour are very important to our allies in Europe and to global security," she said.