WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said in an interview with CBS news that he would not like to commit the United States to providing aid to Ukraine "forever," expressing hope that Moscow and Kiev would ultimately resolve their disagreements.
When asked whether the US would continue lethal military aid to Ukraine until Russia leaves Crimea and "stops supporting separatists in Ukraine," O'Brien replied that he would not like to build hypotheticals about "what could happen down the road."
"I mean, hopefully, Russia and Ukraine could get along, there could be some sort of peace treaty or agreement between them. I don't want to commit the United States to what we're gonna do forever," he added.
He also stressed that Donald Trump was the first US president to send lethal military aid to Ukraine to "stand up to the Russians."
The freeze of hundreds of millions of Dollars in US military aid to Ukraine in summer has been at the heart of the impeachment inquiry against Trump. The Democrats believe that the president has held back aid to Ukraine in a bid to pressure its leadership into opening investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic front-runner for the White House, whose son was a board member at Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
Trump has categorically denied applying any pressure to the Ukrainian leadership while requesting it to probe possible instances of corruption, which he says is his duty as president.
Western countries have repeatedly made claims about the alleged Russian aggression with regard to the conflict in Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia. Moscow has denied claims of involvement in the crisis and said that the peninsula rejoined Russia as a result of the referendum held in line with international law, saying that the matter was historically closed.
