Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrii Taran said Mr. Austin told him that the U.S. “will not leave Ukraine alone and will not allow the realization of aggressive aspirations of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine.” Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Mr. Austin had made the call.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman told reporters in Moscow Thursday said it was Ukraine that was the aggressor and that recent Russian troop deployments near the conflict zone are an internal matter.
Pentagon officials said they are closely monitoring the fighting, the latest in a grinding seven-year civil war that has already left some 11,000 fighters on both sides dead and even more civilian casualties. Mr. Kirby noted that the U.S. has supplied more than $2 billion in military aid to the Kyiv government since the fighting began.