Mattis vows support for Ukraine
Foreign policy roundup
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday condemned Russia’s attempts to “redraw international borders by force” and pledged support for Ukraine but stopped short of promising U.S. weapons for Ukraine’s fight against pro-Russian separatists.
Mr. Mattis is the first Pentagon chief in a decade to visit Ukraine, which has been on the front lines of Russian aggression since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and began supporting armed insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
Deliberations in the Trump administration have heated up in recent months over whether to provide lethal defensive weapons, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, to Ukrainian forces battling the separatist insurgency.
Washington has no treaty obligations with Ukraine, and the Obama administration gave nonlethal military aid to the government in Kiev. It also shared intelligence and posted U.S. troops to the Lviv region in western Ukraine, far from the conflict zone, to train Ukrainian soldiers.
Critics fear that sending sophisticated U.S. arms to a low-level conflict on Russia’s border would worsen Washington’s already perilous relations with Moscow. Advocates argue that the war has been prolonged because the U.S. has not provided stronger support.
Senior Defense and State Department officials have privately supported proposals to supply more lethal weapons, according to U.S. officials.
More diplomats hurt
The controversy surrounding the bizarre attack against U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba is expanding rapidly.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday that as many as 16 people from the “embassy community” in Havana were affected by the use of an alleged sonic device. Some of them are still in Cuba.
Support for peace talks
Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and Hugo Llorens, special charge’ d’affairs of the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan, stressed Thursday American support for possible peace talks with Taliban insurgents alongside a new, open-ended military commitment.
Mideast peace push
Presidential adviser Jared Kushner met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Thursday to try to jumpstart moribund peace talks, but after months without progress, he faces growing skepticism on the Palestinian side.