  We present high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of M87 with the
Reflection Grating Spectrometers on XMM-Newton. We detect strong K-shell line
emission from N, O, Ne, Mg, some emission from He-like Si, a fully resolved set
of Fe L-shell emission spectra, and some emission from C. The angular intensity
distributions of the strong emission lines are detectably resolved on scales
(15-160) arcsec. The gas in the inner arcmin of M87 has a multi-phase
structure, as indicated by the similarity of the emission line profiles of Fe L
shell ions with widely separated ionization potentials. The global Fe L
spectrum is approximately consistent with an isothermal plasma at kT_e ~ 1.8
keV, in addition to a component with a temperature distribution appropriate to
an isobaric cooling flow, but with a minimum temperature cutoff of kT_min ~ 600
eV. The behaviour of this cooling-flow component is qualitatively similar to
what is seen in other cooling flow clusters. Finally, we do not find any strong
evidence for a spatial variation in abundances due to resonance scattering
redistribution in the inner arcminute of the core.
