Defense Secretary Mattis promises support to Ukraine, says reviewing lethal aid (Source Reuters) U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a visit to Ukraine said Washington would keep up pressure on Russia over what he called its aggressive behavior and signaled his personal support for providing weapons to Kiev. Mattis said Russia had not abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement meant to end the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine and that the United States would maintain sanctions on Moscow. “Despite Russia’s denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe,” Mattis told reporters, alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Mattis’s visit, timed for Ukrainian Independence Day, is the second high-profile show of U.S. support in as many months, after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Kiev in July. According to U.S. officials, a plan to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine has made its way to the White House but has not been signed. Thus far the Pentagon says it has provided $750 million in non-lethal aid to Ukraine since 2015, which includes radars and Supplying weapons “will be a huge boost of support to Ukraine,” said Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region. Carpenter said the weapons under discussion cannot effectively be used to take territory, which means providing them would help stabilize the situation.