On Tuesday, October 19, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin paid an official visit to Kyiv. He spoke on a number of important issues for Ukraine.
“Wheels down in Kyiv. I'm here to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations — and to express our commitment to build Ukraine’s capacity to deter further Russian aggression,” he tweeted on Tuesday, October 19.
In Ukraine, Lloyd Austin met with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Taran and with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
At a joint briefing with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran, Lloyd Austin remembered that a few weeks ago at the Pentagon and they had a productive discussion today about how we intend to implement the U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Defense Framework that was signed in Washington on August 31.
“The Strategic Defense Framework created a foundation for enhancing our defense and security cooperation, and we remain committed to strengthening our strategic partnership,” Secretary of Defence stated.
He once again reassured unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine and called on Russia to end the hostilities in Donbas.
“Let me underscore what President Biden said during President Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Washington. U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering. So, we again call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea… to stop perpetuating the war in eastern Ukraine… to end its destabilizing activities in the Black Sea and along Ukraine’s borders… and to halt its persistent cyber-attacks and other malign activities against the United States, and our Allies and partners,” Lloyd Austin said.
U.S. Secretary of State is convinced that Russia is responsible for the war in Donbas: “Let’s be clear, Russia started this war and Russia is the obstacle to a peaceful resolution. They can start by respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and in the meantime, we will continue to do everything that we can to support Ukraine’s efforts to develop the capabilities to defend itself and protect its sovereign territory.”
Austin expressed confidence that the United States would continue to provide Ukraine with the necessary support in its conflict with Russia.
Commenting on the Russian Federation's reaction to the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, Austin stressed that no third countries have the right to influence Ukraine's determination of its future foreign policy.
“I would just point out, no third country has a veto over NATO’s membership decisions. Ukraine, as you heard me say earlier, has a right to decide its own future foreign policy and we expect that they will be able to do that without any outside interference. And finally, I would say that our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty is unwavering and again we will continue to work together with our partners to ensure that the right things are in place to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself," said the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
To that end, Austin, on behalf of the U.S. government, encouraged Ukraine to remain committed to the deep and comprehensive reforms needed to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, which means continuing to enhance civilian control of the military; align defense industry institutions with global best practices, and introduce Human Resources Management reforms.
“The United States remains committed to helping Ukraine implement these reforms through a robust advisory effort,” he concluded, adding that he is looking forward to working with Andrii Taran on an even stronger and more enduring strategic partnership between our countries.