MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - The United States have not made the final decision on whether to favor Ukraine's request for lethal weapons, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told CNN Sunday.
"We haven't made the decision to provide a certain type of weapons, but intelligence - we do provide intelligence," Rhodes said.
"The American authorities had provided a lot of non-lethal assistance relevant to their operations like communications, body armor, night-vision goggles," he said, adding that the United States was discussing training and equipment issues with Ukraine, "so that they would have more modernized, professional security forces, so they can provide for the security of the country."
After the crash of the Malaysia Airlines flight with 298 people on board in eastern Ukraine on July 17, the United States and Europe have introduced additional sanctions against Russia, which they accused of helping militia with weapons its forces could have used to shoot down the airliner.
"The best thing the United States can do is send a message to Russia through very strong sanctions, coordinated with the Europeans," Rhodes said adding the US was confident of strong action by Europe, which would move out on sectoral sanctions in the coming days.
The European Commission has adopted legislative proposals on sectoral sanctions against Russia on Saturday. The Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) is due to discuss the proposals on Monday.
