Russia starts war in Donbas, hinders peaceful settlement of conflict – US Secretary of Defense

The culprit of the armed conflict in Donbas is Russia, which has started to show aggression, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said.

At a joint briefing with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran on Tuesday in Kyiv, Austin said frankly speaking Russia started this war, and Russia is the stone that prevents a peaceful settlement. They began to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

He said the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the necessary support in the conflict with Russia.

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Secretary of Defense Austin: US to continue supporting Black Sea security partners

Austin said that today the United States discussed strengthening its partnership in the Black Sea region with its partners to counter Russia’s destabilizing actions. the United States supported Ukraine together with Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria. The United States understands the importance of partnership and alliance between allies and partners in order to contain Russian aggression, he said.

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Defense Ministers of US, Ukraine discuss defense partnerships and improving security in Black Sea

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran and Minister of Defense of the United States Lloyd Austin discussed the implementation of a framework agreement on the strategic foundations of the defense partnership and security in the Black Sea, the leaders announced during the joint press briefing.

The parties agreed to develop a roadmap for the implementation of the provisions of the framework agreement signed in Washington on the strategic foundations of defense partnership.

“We have considered specific, the most critical projects for the development of the fundamental capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are important for the defense of our country on land, in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace,” Taran said.