Ukraine defense minister: Don’t compare us to Afghanistan

KYIV, Ukraine ― Ukraine’s defense minister fired back Tuesday at Russian predictions that the U.S., in light of its rushed exit from Afghanistan, will eventually abandon Ukraine.

“I’m not going to compare relations between the U.S. and Ukraine with relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan,” Andriy Taran said. “Ukraine is a country that fights for its own independence and territorial integrity. We have no doubt of the support from our strategic partner.”

“The U.S. understands the importance of our fight, the fight of Ukraine for its independence, for the deterrence of Russian aggression,” he added.

Taran’s defiant comments came at a joint press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was on his first trip to Europe since America exited Afghanistan and its U.S.-backed government folded to the Taliban.

Ukraine was the latest stop in Austin’s swing through the Black Sea region to reassure allies of the U.S. commitment to them. Austin voiced America’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Russia is an “obstacle” to peace and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“We call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea, to stop perpetuating the war in eastern Ukraine and to end its destabilizing activities along Ukraine’s borders, and to halt its persistent cyber attacks and other malign activities against the United States and its partners,” Austin said.

European allies have criticized the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, and Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev assailed it in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia in August.

Patrushev suggested “the ousted pro-American regime in Kabul” was not “saved by the fact that Afghanistan had major non-NATO U.S. ally status.”

“A similar situation awaits supporters of the American choice in Ukraine,” he added.

Ukraine is locked in a bitter tug-of-war with Russia, which in 2014 annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and has since been backing a deadly separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

The annexation and Moscow’s backing of rebels in the east of Ukraine, where more than 14,000 have been killed since 2014, plunged Russia’s relations with the West to post-Cold War lows. The tensions rose again this year after Russia increased troop numbers near its borders with Ukraine, including in Crimea, eliciting international outrage.

Zelenskyy has looked to U.S. President Joe Biden for increased military aid and backing for his country’s bid for NATO membership , which Russia adamantly opposes. The U.S. has given Ukraine weapons as well as a long to-do list of anti-corruption measures and other reforms.

On Tuesday, Austin and other Pentagon officials met with their Ukrainian counterparts to discuss security on the contested Black Sea and Ukraine’s implementation of defense reforms Austin and Taran agreed to when they met in Washington this summer.

Though the Ukrainian government and some U.S. lawmakers want more American arms for Ukraine, Taran ― standing beside Austin ― praised the training and equipment it has received to date. Taran highlighted secure radios, counter-mortar radars and a U.S. commitment to provide armed patrol boats for Black Sea operations .

American military advisers are helping Ukraine reach NATO standards, but it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, according to Taran.

“We share our own experience of combat actions [against] the Russian Federation, because this experience, which Ukrainian armed forces have, no one else has,” he said.

Ukraine on Monday received its latest shipment of U.S. defense aid, which included radar surveillance equipment, precision ammunition and medical supplies, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

It’s part of the $60 million tranche Biden agreed to this summer in advance of Zelenskyy’s long sought visit to the White House. The U.S. has overall committed more than $400 million in military aid this year.

With reporting by the Associated Press.

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

乌克兰基辅——乌克兰国防部长周二反驳了俄罗斯的预测，即鉴于美国仓促从阿富汗撤军，最终将放弃乌克兰。

安德烈·塔兰表示：“我不会将美国与乌克兰的关系与美国与阿富汗的关系相提并论。乌克兰是一个为自身独立和领土完整而战的国家。我们对战略伙伴的支持毫不怀疑。”

“美国理解我们这场斗争的重要性，乌克兰为争取独立而进行的斗争，以及对俄罗斯侵略的威慑作用，”他补充道。

塔兰发表这番挑衅性言论时，正与美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀举行联合新闻发布会。这是自美国撤出阿富汗、美国支持的阿富汗政府向塔利班投降以来，奥斯汀首次访问欧洲。

乌克兰是奥斯汀此次黑海地区之行的最新一站，此行旨在向盟友重申美国对他们的承诺。奥斯汀表达了美国对乌克兰主权和领土完整的“坚定不移”的支持，称俄罗斯是和平的“障碍”，并会见了乌克兰总统泽连斯基。

奥斯汀说：“我们呼吁俄罗斯结束对克里米亚的占领，停止在乌克兰东部延续战争，停止在乌克兰边境沿线的破坏稳定活动，并停止其持续不断的网络攻击和其他针对美国及其伙伴的恶意活动。”

欧洲盟友批评美国从阿富汗撤军，俄罗斯安全会议秘书尼古拉·帕特鲁舍夫在8月接受俄罗斯《消息报》采访时也对此进行了抨击。

帕特鲁舍夫认为，“喀布尔被推翻的亲美政权”并没有“因为阿富汗是美国的主要非北约盟友而得救”。

他还补充说：“支持美国在乌克兰所作选择的人们也将面临类似的处境。”

乌克兰与俄罗斯陷入了一场激烈的拉锯战。2014年，俄罗斯吞并了乌克兰的克里米亚半岛，此后一直支持乌克兰东部致命的分裂叛乱。

俄罗斯吞并乌克兰东部地区并支持叛军，自2014年以来已有超过14000人在该地区丧生，这使得俄罗斯与西方的关系跌至冷战后最低点。今年，俄罗斯在包括克里米亚在内的乌克兰边境地区增兵，引发国际社会强烈抗议，导致双方紧张关系再次升级。

泽连斯基一直寻求美国总统拜登增加对乌克兰的军事援助，并支持乌克兰加入北约，而俄罗斯对此坚决反对。美国已向乌克兰提供武器，并提出了一长串反腐败措施和其他改革要求。

周二，奥斯汀和其他五角大楼官员与乌克兰同行会面，讨论黑海争议地区的安全问题以及乌克兰落实奥斯汀和塔兰今年夏天在华盛顿会晤时达成的国防改革的进展情况。

尽管乌克兰政府和一些美国议员希望美国向乌克兰提供更多武器，但站在奥斯汀身旁的塔兰对乌克兰迄今为止获得的训练和装备表示赞赏。塔兰特别提到了安全无线电、反迫击炮雷达以及美国承诺为黑海行动提供武装巡逻艇。

塔兰表示，美国军事顾问正在帮助乌克兰达到北约标准，但这是一种互惠互利的关系。

他说：“我们分享我们自身在与俄罗斯联邦作战中的经验，因为乌克兰武装部队拥有的这种经验，是其他任何国家都没有的。”

据乌克兰国防部消息，乌克兰周一收到了美国最新一批国防援助物资，其中包括雷达监视设备、精确制导弹药和医疗用品。

这是拜登今年夏天同意提供的6000万美元援助的一部分，这笔援助是在泽连斯基期待已久的白宫之行前夕达成的。美国今年总共承诺提供超过4亿美元的军事援助。

美联社报道。

乔·古尔德是《防务新闻》的资深五角大楼记者，负责报道国家安全政策、政治和国防工业的交汇点。他此前曾担任国会记者。