The Pentagon is “watching” Russia escalate its aggression in Eastern Europe

The president recently approved an additional $ 125 million in lethal aid to Ukraine to defend its border with Russia, including two armed patrol boats and anti-artillery radar. The United States has provided more than $ 2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, including the provision of anti-tank missiles with javelins. As the Obama administration sent military equipment to Ukraine, the deadly aid came after the Trump administration.

Biden has a long history of defending support for Ukraine, especially after Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. As vice president and chief ambassador of the Obama administration in Kiev, Biden visited the country six times and spent hours on the phone with its leaders.

His advisors, Politico, said in an interview last year that he also led efforts to send American troops to train Ukrainian fighters and urged senior officials to root out corruption.

Pentagon’s answer: Pentagon leaders have voiced their concerns to NATO allies about renewed fighting in Eastern Europe, which left four Ukrainian soldiers dead and two wounded on March 26, as well as a strengthening of the Russian armed forces, spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.

“Obviously, we do not want to see any further violations against Ukrainian territory,” Kirby said. “We have been very clear about the threats that we see from Russia in the fields … We take them very seriously,” he added.

Kirby said he was not aware of any interaction between the Russians and US forces in Eastern Europe.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, telephoned his Russian and Ukrainian colleagues to discuss the security situation separately on Wednesday after reading from his office. Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuliba said that he had spoken to Foreign Minister Anthony Blinkin about “ways to improve security cooperation.”

I had a very productive and focused call with you Include a Tweet Because Russia continues to systematically tighten the security situation in eastern Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula. “

In a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart earlier this week, Kirby said, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated the United States’ “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.