Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan assured his Ukrainian Counterpart Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak that the United States remains committed to providing security assistance to the country, Pentagon Spokesperson Eric Pahon said on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2019) Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan assured his Ukrainian Counterpart Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak that the United States remains committed to providing security assistance to the country, Pentagon Spokesperson Eric Pahon said on Thursday."Shanahan reaffirmed US commitment to security assistance efforts to build the capacity of Ukraine's forces to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression," Pahon said in a readout of a meeting between the two defense chiefs.
Shanahan and Poltorak met earlier on Thursday in Brussels on the sidelines of a meeting of defense ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).
The aim of the meeting was to "strengthen the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine," Pahon said.
The two ministers discussed the fallout from the Kerch Strait incident, and Shanahan pledged to maintain pressure on Russia to free detained crew members and seized vessels, Pahon said.
On November 25, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats, and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels and detained 24 people on board after they failed to respond to a demand to stop. After the incident, a criminal case on illegal border crossing was opened in Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly slammed Kiev's attempts to portray the detained sailors as prisoners of war, stressing that they face criminal charges. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to declare martial law, which was announced after the incident and lasted for a month. Putin said the provocation could be linked to Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the presidential election, set to be held in March.
