The Pentagon said Tuesday that despite the defeat of the key city of Debaltseve by Russian-backed forces, the U.S. had not changed its policy of not sending lethal weapons to Ukraine.
“The ceasefire did not hold, Moscow violated that agreement,” said Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced earlier Wednesday that Ukraine’s government forces have begun an “orderly and pre-planned” withdrawal from the eastern city of Debaltseve.
“Our soldiers, brave defenders of our land, gave a blow in the teeth to those who were trying to encircle them and withdrew from Debaltseve,” Poroshenko said via Twitter, describing the intense fighting over the weekend between an estimated 5,000 Ukrainian troops and heavily equipped Russian-backed separatists.
Despite the violation, Kirby said the U.S. position on whether to send lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine had not changed. While still an option, the U.S. has limited its assistance to Ukraine to non-lethal means, such as equipment and radars.
However, what has changed over the last week is U.S. willingness to directly identify Moscow as the aggressor. Over the weekend, Geoff Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, tweeted images of heavy artillery systems reported to be shelling Debaltseve, with the comment, “we are confident these are Russian military, not separatist systems.”
On Tuesday, Kirby reiterated that “a U.S. military solution is not going to be had here.” But in the most direct recognition that the separatists are Russian proxies, and even directly Russian forces, he added, “Moscow needs to abide by the agreement it signed up to … to remove their heavy weapons and the Russian forces from eastern Ukraine.”
The fighting occurred for days after both countries agreed to a complete ceasefire, as Russia moved heavy artillery into the area to continue its aggressive takeover of regions along its western border.
Russia’s moves against Debaltseve were decried by the State Department as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
But the Obama administration would not say that the violation would prompt the supply of defensive weapons to the Ukrainian forces, instead preferring to see if a political solution could be found.
Kirby said the U.S. would continue to reassure its allies through its continued presence in the region, such as the recent rotation of the destroyer USS Cole into the Black Sea and the arrival of one dozen A-10 attack aircraft to provide “air policing.”
This article was published at 11:19 a.m. and has since been updated.
