Mattis: U.S. considering sending weapons to Ukraine

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Thursday the Trump administration is considering supplying weapons to Ukraine after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev.

Mattis said he would return to the United States and advise leaders on what he learned during his visit to Ukraine.

Mattis' trip is the first by a U.S. defense secretary to Ukraine in more than a decade.

The meeting comes as after U.S. Treasury Department in June announced it would add 38 more individuals and entities to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's list of those sanctions due to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The move is an attempt to pressure Russia into following Minsk Protocol cease-fire agreement.

Mattis said the United States will continue to pressure Russia because it is "seeking to redraw international borders by force." The Pentagon chief said the United States will continue to pressure Russia until Moscow changes its behavior.

"The U.S. and our allies will continue to press Russia to honor its Minsk commitments and our sanctions will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them," Mattis said.