WASHINGTON, November 26 (Sputnik) – The Unites States provides exclusively non-lethal assistance to Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has stressed.
"Nothing has changed about the non-lethal assistance that we continue to flow to Ukrainian armed forces and security forces," Kirby told reporters Monday.
When asked to confirm that the US Department of Defense has made no decision on providing lethal aid to Ukraine, Kirby replied that the United States "continue[s] to focus on non-lethal assistance to Ukraine".
Last Friday, US Senator John McCain told Sputnik that the newly-elected US Congress will pass resolutions and apply pressure on US President Barack Obama to provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance.
Also on Friday, US State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke announced that lethal assistance to Ukraine "remains an option".
Last Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that if the United States decides to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, it would be a direct violation of the Geneva Agreements.
During his September visit to the United States, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko requested lethal military assistance from the Obama administration. The White House has so far refused to grant it.
In mid-April Kiev authorities launched a military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, who refused to recognize the new government which came to power as a result of a coup in February.
The offensive triggered a humanitarian crisis in the affected areas, prompting Russia to send in several humanitarian convoys to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
