Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said on Monday that the US wants to “see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine”.
The US defence secretary also said during the press conference that he believes Ukraine can win with the right support.
His comments follow a trip to Kyiv on Sunday alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where both met Ukraine’s President Zelensky.
During their trip, they announced US diplomats would begin to gradually return to Ukraine and that the US had offered Ukraine $700m in additional military aid.