The United States announced Wednesday that it is sending small unarmed drones, armored Humvees and other assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists – but for the first time the White House said arming Ukraine hasn't been ruled out. Some lawmakers are upset that lethal weapons haven't already been included as part of $75 million in new aid announced Wednesday. Asked during a White House press briefing to confirm that the U.S. won't send weapons to the former Soviet nation, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, 'That's not necessarily accurate.' 'I can't,' he said. 'The President, I think, in his own mind, is continuing to evaluate the situation in eastern Ukraine,' Earnest told reporters, 'and continuing to assess the risk that's associated with providing additional lethal assistance to the Ukrainian military.' Scroll down for video . STILL ON THE TABLE: White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that the Obama administration hasn't ruled out sending lethal military aid to Ukraine . BROKEN DOWN: Ukraine's military vehicles are being repaired with COINS where bullet-holes have made them otherwise unfit for new duties on the front lines . NEW COSTS? Russian President Vladimiar Putin has consistently denied arming rebels in the war in eastern Ukraine, which began in April after Moscow annexed the mostly Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula . Obama is weighing the consequences of putting new lethal weapons in the hands of Ukraine's military, weighing the risks that it could further inflame a conflict in which more than 6,000 people have already lost their lives. 'That bloodshed is something that we're trying to avoid and de-escalate,' Earnest said. 'So the president is very mindful of the potential risk that's associated with providing additional lethal military assistance to the Ukrainians.' Members of Congress from both parties have repeatedly urged Obama to provide Ukrainian soldiers with lethal weapons to defend themselves. Cory Fritz, spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner, told the Associated Press that the new aid 'will be completely ineffective.' 'The Ukrainians are begging for help, and the Congress is begging the administration to provide the defensive lethal assistance we authorized in December. Our allies deserve better,' Fritz said. CHEWING IT OVER: Obama, seen Tuesday in Atlanta, Georgia, is said to be mulling the geopolitical pros and cons of standing up to Putin by sending new defensive weapons to Kiev . DEVASTATION:  Pro-Russian rebels last week inspected the rubble of a destroyed coal mine that was used as a Ukrainian army outpost . In the Senate, a bipartisan group of 13 lawmakers wrote on Tuesday to Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran and Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the top dogs on the Appropriations Committee, asking them to set aside funds specifically for 'defensive weapons' earmarked for Ukraine. 'While these weapons would not allow Ukraine to outmatch the Russian military, they would enable Ukraine to better defend itself and increase the costs of President Putin’s aggression in Ukraine,' they wrote. 'By increasing costs for President Putin’s aggression, it would discourage future aggression in eastern Europe that could even more directly threaten U.S. national security interests.' Another pair of senators, Tennessee Republican Bob Corker and New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, reached across the aisle to jointly demand that the White House green-light new weapons allocations. 'Now is the time for the United States to provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself from continued Russian aggression,' the wrote in a letter to the president. 'We should not be misled by Vladimir Putin's repeated efforts to exploit nominal ceasefire agreements.' Putin, the president of Russia, has consistently denied arming rebels in the war in eastern Ukraine, which began in April after Moscow annexed the mostly Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula. Corker and Menendez said in their letter that providing defensive weapons to Ukraine could 'impose a greater military cost on Russia' for its aggressive movements. 'After countless broken promises by the Kremlin, it is clear that Moscow's aggression in Ukraine can only be stopped if Putin realizes that the United States and Europe are unequivocally committed to helping Kiev impose this military cost on Russia,' they insisted. HANGING ON BY A PRAYER:  Father Alexandr Matveev led his congregation in servcies held in his office on March 8; their Russian Orthodox church's main hall was destroyed by Russian shelling in 2014 . APPROPRIATIONS NEEDED: US senators from both sides of the political aisle want the White House to send weapons to Ukrainian soldiers, and they're willing to spend taxpayer dollars to do it . Word of Wednesday's new aid package came in a telephone call Wednesday from Vice President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The White House said Biden also expressed concern that Russian-backed separatists are violating cease-fire agreements in eastern Ukraine and keeping out international monitors. Earnest said the new aid includes unmanned drones to help defend Ukrainian forces and enhance their communication; radios and other secure communications equipment; radars to warn and protect against mortar and artillery fire; and medical equipment, including military ambulances. U.S. officials, speaking on a condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the aid on the record, said it includes small Raven drones systems, which can be launched by hand. The U.S. also will send 30 heavily armored Humvees and 200 other regular Humvees. It's not clear how many drones will be sent. Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that administration officials are discussing lethal assistance and are watching whether the agreements that led to last month's cease-fire are implemented. Nuland said that in the past few days, there have been new transfers of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery and rocket equipment over the border to the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Obama spokesman cites 'risk assessment' and says president wants to 'de-escalate' military action, not ramp it up . The US is sending another $75 million in nonlethal aid but won't commit to arming Ukrainian troops against Vladimir Putin's Russia . Group of 13 Republican and Democratic senators want Congress to appropriate money specifically to buy 'defensive weapons' for Ukraine . Two other senators, one from each party, say the US should be 'equipping Ukraine with the means to impose a greater military cost on Russia'