US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday called Russia an “obstacle” to peace in Ukraine, accusing Moscow of destabilizing the Black Sea region. “We call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea and to stop prolonging the war in eastern Ukraine and its destabilizing activities in the Black Sea and along the Ukrainian borders. […] Russia has started this war and Russia is blocking its peaceful resolution, ”he said during a meeting in Kiev with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriï Taran.
Ukraine has been going through a war since 2014 involving pro-Russian separatists, widely seen as manipulated by Moscow. This conflict, which erupted a few weeks after Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, has left more than 13,000 dead.
Mr. Austin is currently on a tour around the Black Sea. He has already visited Georgia on Monday, another former Soviet republic which, like Ukraine, wishes to join NATO. He will then travel to Romania, already a member of the Alliance.
He said on Tuesday that the tour was important to strengthen the cooperation of countries in the region in the face of Russian activities. “This region remains crucial for us,” he declared, as several Western countries worry about Washington’s growing disinterest in the Old Continent in favor of the Indo-Pacific zone.
We call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea and to stop prolonging the war in eastern Ukraine and its destabilizing activities in the Black Sea and along the Ukrainian borders
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andriï Taran, said he always trusted the United States. “We have no doubts about the support of our strategic partner. The United States understands the importance of Ukraine’s struggle for independence and against Russian aggression. “
Later in the day, Lloyd Austin was received by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who hailed the United States as “Ukraine’s main partner in the field of security and defense”, according to a statement. of its press service. “Thank you to you and President Biden for your continued support of Ukraine, our sovereignty and our territorial integrity,” the president said during the meeting, quoted in the statement.
At the end of August, MM. Zelensky and Taran had traveled to Washington because President Joe Biden had promised them to support Ukraine against Russia. Mr. Zelensky walked away with a pledge of $ 60 million in additional military aid, especially anti-tank missiles; some of this aid was delivered to Kiev on Monday.
According to Joe Biden, the United States has allocated at least $ 2.5 billion in aid to the Ukrainian armed forces since 2014, including more than $ 400 million in 2021 alone. In return, Washington is insisting that Kiev deepen seriously reforms to its army and military industry, in particular to eradicate corruption, which remains endemic in Ukraine, the poorest country in Europe.
The quest for better governance in Ukraine has been a goal supported by the West for years. These reforms are supposed to lead to closer collaboration with NATO, which Kiev wants to join, much to Moscow’s chagrin. But Europeans and Americans have so far shown little enthusiasm for accelerating Ukrainian integration into the Alliance.