"Success is anything but certain," warned Germany's Merkel during the uncomfortably un-united joint press conference as both the leaders appeared to be able to agree on only one thing - that a military solution will not happen. This was followed by what appeared to be President Obama conceding to Merkel that the provision of arms to Ukraine was kinda sorta 'off-the-table' - though still under "ongoing analysis." Hopes remain for a diplomatic solution and President Obama even concluded, "we are not looking for Russia to fail. ... Our preference is for a strong, vibrant, confident Russia." Other items that caused some tension included Iran, Israel, NSA "trust" and US asking for "benefit of the doubt," and Greek anti-austerity plans... MERKEL SAYS ’I DON’T SEE A MILITARY SOLUTION’ ON UKRAINE pic.twitter.com/8uVeZq2ege — zerohedge (@zerohedge) https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/564836054063390721!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Obama's comments... *OBAMA SAYS RUSSIA-UKRAINE AND ISLAMIC STATE DOMINATED TALKS *OBAMA: RUSSIA VIOLATED JUST ABOUT EVERY AGREEMENT IN MINSK PACT *OBAMA: RUSSIAN ACTIONS HAVE ONLY STRENGTHENED WESTERN RESOLVE *OBAMA SAYS HE CONTINUES TO ENCOURAGE DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION *OBAMA SAYS HE, MERKEL AGREED ON RUSSIAN SANCTIONS STRATEGY *OBAMA: RUSSIAN ISOLATION WILL ONLY WORSEN W/O CHANGE OF COURSE *OBAMA: LITTLE PROSPECT FOR MILITARY SOLUTION TO UKRAINE-RUSSIA *OBAMA SAYS RUSSIA WILL FACE MORE SANCTIONS WITHOUT ACTION *OBAMA SAYS HE'S ASKED TEAM TO LOOK AT `ALL OPTIONS' ON RUSSIA *OBAMA: LETHAL WEAPONS TO UKRAINE IS ONE OPTION; NO DECISION YET *OBAMA SAYS HE STILL HOPES DIPLOMATIC ACTION WILL PERSUADE PUTIN *OBAMA SAYS GOAL IS ONLY FOR UKRAINE TO BE ABLE TO DEFEND ITSELF *OBAMA SAYS `ONGOING ANALYSIS' IN DECISION ON WEAPONS TO UKRAINE *OBAMA: `NO DOUBT' SNOWDEN ISSUE DAMAGED GERMANS' VIEW OF U.S. *OBAMA SAYS GERMANS SHOULD TRY TO GIVE U.S. BENEFIT OF DOUBT Merkel's comments... *MERKEL SAYS SHE, OBAMA SHARE SAME PRINCIPLES ON UKRAINE-RUSSIA *MERKEL SAYS ESSENTIAL TO DEFEND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY PRINCIPLE *MERKEL SAYS 'I DON'T SEE A MILITARY SOLUTION' ON UKRAINE *MERKEL SAYS GOAL REMAINS DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION ON UKRAINE-RUSSIA *MERKEL SAYS SHE, HOLLANDE SEEKING CEASE-FIRE IN UKRAINE *MERKEL SAYS 'SUCCESS IS ANYTHING BUT CERTAIN' IN UKRAINE TALKS *MERKEL SAYS IT'S BEEN RIGHT TO RAISE ECONOMIC COSTS ON RUSSIA *MERKEL SAYS U.S.-EUROPE TIES TRUMP ARMS-TO-UKRAINE ISSUE *MERKEL SAYS STILL DISAGREEMENT ON SOME POINTS ON NSA ISSUE * * * And then there's this... Obama: "We are not looking for Russia to fail. ... Our preference is for a strong, vibrant, confident Russia." pic.twitter.com/lhhyZkQSd7 — The Hill (@thehill) https://twitter.com/thehill/status/564839553333481472!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); The bottom line - whether for appearances or not - President Obama came across a lot less hawkish than we suspect Poroshenko and the Ukrainian military was hoping for him to be.