"U.S. troops had already deployed in small numbers to Ukraine to train national guard forces, but under a plan first announced in July they are now helping regular military units," reads the statement. As the Pentagon representative noted, the U.S. military "will be training five battalions of active-duty troops and one battalion of special operations forces personnel." It was also stressed that Washington has made repeated pledges of support for Ukraine, and has committed more than $265 million in training and equipment since 2014. "This is part of our ongoing efforts to contribute to Ukraine's long-term military reform and professionalism and to help them improve Ukraine's internal defense capabilities and training capacity," Davis said.