US Defence Secretary James Mattis said Donald Trump “stands with Ukraine” at a joint press conference with President Petro Poroshenko today.
Mr Mattis said Washington would continue to put pressure on Russia over what he called its aggressive behaviour.
But the politician stopped short of promising to provide lethal weapons to Kiev.
He said Russia had failure to abided by the Minsk ceasefire agreement, which was meant to end separatist violence in eastern Ukraine.
And he added: “Despite Russia’s denials, we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of Europe.”
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Mr Mattis’s visit, timed to coincide with Ukrainian Independence Day, is the second high-profile show of US support in as many months, after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Kiev in July.
Ukraine has counted on US support against Russia since a pro-Western government took power following street protests in 2014 when the Kremlin-backed president fled the country.
But some of President Donald Trump’s comments during the election campaign last year, such as appearing to recognise Crimea as part of Russia, stoked fears in Kiev he might mend ties with Moscow at Ukraine’s expense.
And the fears wear only heightened following the release of a report which claimed North Korea’s recent successful missile tests were only possible with the black market purchase of powerful rocket engines from a Ukrainian factory.
But Kiev wants the US to supply lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine—a move the previous administration under Barack Obama shied away from.
Mr Mattis said: “On the defensive lethal weapons, we are actively reviewing it.
“I will go back now having seen the current situation and be able to inform the Secretary of State and the President in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead.
“Defensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening.”
Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into freefall after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of a Kremlin-backed separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people.
Russia denies sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine.