During his visit to Ukraine, Pentagon Chief of Staff Lloyd Austin said that he would continue to support Ukraine in the Black Sea for the sake of security.

«You can count on us to continue our support. This (Black Sea – ed.) region is very important to us. We will continue to support our partners in providing security in this region,» the Pentagon chief assured after a meeting with Andriy Taran, Ukraine's defense minister.

In addition, Lloyd appealed to the Russian authorities to end the war with Ukraine and not to destabilize the situation in the Black Sea and near Ukraine's borders.

  «President Biden noted during President Zelensky's visit to Washington that our support for Ukrainian sovereignty is unwavering. We condemn the occupation of Crimea and call on Russia to end the war in the east [of Ukraine], stop destabilizing actions in the Black Sea and along Ukraine's borders, and stop cyberattacks against the United States and our allies and partners,» the Pentagon chief noted.

Lloyd also recalled the sums the U.S. has allocated to Ukraine's Armed Forces over the past seven years. More than 2.5 billion dollars were allocated to protect the state.

We have previously reported on the beginning of Lloyd's visit to Ukraine.