We present an x-ray absorption study of the dependence of the V oxidation state on the thickness of LaV O₃ (LVO) and capping LaAl O₃ (LAO) layers in the multilayer structure of LVO sandwiched between LAO. We found that the change of the valence of V as a function of LAO layer thickness can be qualitatively explained by a transition between electronically reconstructed interfaces and a chemical reconstruction. The change as a function of LVO layer thickness is complicated by the presence of a considerable amount of V4+ in the bulk of the thicker LVO layers.