Britain reserves the right to arm Ukraine and will not allow the Ukrainian army to collapse, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament on Tuesday.

Britain reserves the right to arm Ukraine and will not allow the Ukrainian army to collapse, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament on Tuesday.

"It's a national decision for each country in the NATO alliance to decide whether to supply lethal aid to Ukraine," he said in a statement to MPs.

"The UK is not planning to do so but we reserve the right to keep this position under review," he said.

Hammond said Russia had "aggravated the effects of its initial incursion" by providing military support to "proxies" fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Britain and its NATO allies "share a clear understanding that, while there is no military solution to this conflict, we could not allow the Ukrainian armed forces to collapse," he said.

The statement follows US President Barack Obama's announcement on Monday that he would hold off making a controversial decision on sending arms to Ukraine until efforts led by France and Germany to broker a ceasefire with Russia were given a chance.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany meet in Minsk on Wednesday in a bid to hammer out a peace deal in a 10-month war that has killed over 5,400 people.

“Strong Will” to Get Deal
Meanwhile on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said he was going to Minsk with the "strong will" to achieve a peace deal on Ukraine at a four-way summit also attended by Germany's Angela Merkel.

The Russian and Ukrainian leaders were also due to be present at the meeting in the Belarusian capital Wednesday, as fighting rages on in the east of Ukraine.