U.S. official: Administration is not considering deployment of American troops into Ukraine

A senior U.S. official said Thursday that the White House is not considering the deployment of American troops to Ukraine.

Following U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement from the lawn of the White House Thursday that he had ordered additional sanctions against Russia, an unnamed senior U.S. administration official said "it is our view that ... further escalating the conflict through the introduction of U.S. military forces in the Ukraine is not something that anybody is suggesting."

Instead, the U.S. government is focused on meeting Ukraine's most immediate need: economic assistance.

With regard to security, Ukraine is engaged in consultations with NATO through the NATO-Ukraine Council, "and we have been in touch with the Ukrainian military officials about how they are viewing the situation, how they are responding to Russian provocations," the unnamed official said.

The administration, said the official, is considering "what types of support we could provide to the Ukrainians, and the Pentagon has been reviewing that on a regular basis and has indicated that there are certain types of non-lethal support, for instance, that we are providing. And that is something that we’ll continue to review going forward based on how the situation evolves."

[White House]