MOSCOW/January 03, 2018(AP)(STL.News)— Ukraine’s foreign minister says his country will use U.S.-supplied lethal Weapons only for defense.

U.S. officials announced last week that they would be giving Ukraine lethal weapons, including anti-tank missiles.

Ukrainian government forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people.

Russia expressed dismay over the U.S. decision, saying it would only fuel hostilities.

Pavlo Klimkin, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said at a news conference Wednesday in Kiev that the U.S. weapons have “purely defense purposes” and that they would only be used if the separatists provoked government forces.

By Associated Press, published on STL.NEWS by St. Louis Media, LLC (TM)

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