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US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (L) and Ukraine's
President Petro Poroshenko shake hands during a
meeting. (Photo by Mykola/Lazarenko/TASS/Getty)
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The Trump administration is considering sending lethal defensive aid to Ukraine, defense secretary Jim Mattis said during a visit there Thursday.
"On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it,” Mattis said at a press conference with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. “I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the secretary of State and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead.”
Mattis also noted that the administration recently approved an additional $175 million worth of equipment to the country.
For months, the administration has been weighing providing Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons in its years-long fight against Russian-backed separatists in the east.
President Barack Obama signed off on non-lethal aid and training but hesitated to send defensive weapons to Kyiv, in part out of concerns that doing so would provoke Moscow and ramp up the conflict.
Mattis appeared to reject that view Thursday.
"Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you're an aggressor,” he said. “Clearly, Ukraine is not an aggressor, since it’s their own territory where the fighting is happening.”Read the rest of the story HERE and follow link below to a related story:
With Mattis’ Visit to Ukraine on Its Independence Day, the US Sends a Message to Moscow
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