A statement by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Blinken, says that Russia is not meeting its goals in the war, but Ukraine is.
POLAND AND Ukraine are near each other. When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to Kyiv, he said that “Ukraine is succeeding” because Russia isn’t getting what it wants in the war.
When Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went to the capital, it was the highest-level American visit there since Russia invaded in late February.
In Ukraine, they told the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his advisers that the US would give more than $300 million to the country’s military and had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition to the country.
“We were able to show our strong support for the government of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine in person,” Blinken told reporters Monday that this was an important time to meet face-to-face and talk about things in great detail.
Blinken said they met with the Ukrainians for three hours.
Later, footage of the meeting with Blinken was shown by the Ukrainian presidency. Blinken praised the “extraordinary courage, leadership, and success that you’ve had in stopping this terrible Russian aggression.”
A smile spread across Blinken’s face. “We’ve become used to seeing you on video all over the world. But it’s great, it’s good to see you in person. “
Blinken also said that when US diplomats return to Ukraine, they are likely to re-staff the consulate in Lviv, in western Ukraine, before going to the capital, Kyiv. They said last time that the diplomats would start coming back this week. The US Embassy in Kyiv is going to stay closed for the time being, but it will open again soon.
at the news conference, Austin said that “the world has been inspired” by Ukraine’s fight in the war. He also said that the United States was going to keep supporting them. “What you did in the Battle of Kyiv is amazing,” he said.
He said Saturday that he would meet with US officials in Kyiv on Sunday, but the Biden administration refused to confirm that and did not say anything about a possible visit, even though planning had been going on for more than a week.
When Austin and Blinken went to Poland, the journalists who went with them were not allowed to report on the trip until it was over, were not allowed to go with them on their overland journey into Ukraine, and were not allowed to say where in Poland they waited for the Cabinet members to come back. Officials at the State Department and the Pentagon said they were worried about security.
Austin and Blinken said that Ukraine and 15 other countries will get $713 million in foreign military aid. Some $322 million will go to Kyiv. Among NATO members and other countries that have given Ukraine critical military supplies since the war with Russia began, the rest of it will be split, officials say.
This money is different from the money the United States has given Ukraine in the past. It’s not a gift from the US Defense Department, but cash that other countries can use to buy things they might need.
American military aid to Ukraine has topped $3.7 billion since the invasion, officials say. The new money, plus $165 million worth of non-US ammunition that can be used with Soviet-era weapons that the Ukrainians have, brings the total to that amount.
Zelensky had told the Americans not to come without anything. US officials said they thought the new aid would at least meet some of the urgent requests for more help from Ukraine. As Ukraine’s military is learning how to use artillery in the neighbouring countries, more and more of it is being delivered, the officials said. Howitzers and other artillery are also being given to the military.
Biden will soon name veteran diplomat Bridget Brink as the next US ambassador to Ukraine, Blinken told Zelensky. Brink has worked for the US government for more than 20 years. Brink has been an ambassador to Slovakia since 2019. He has been in the foreign service for a long time. She has worked in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, as well as on the National Security Council in the White House, in the past. The job must be approved by the Senate.
As part of his meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Blinken told him that the small staff from the now-closed US Embassy in Kyiv, which has moved to Poland from temporary offices in Lviv, will start going back to Lviv for one-day trips in the coming days. Security in the capital has been reviewed quickly by the US, according to officials. The State Department will open its embassy in the capital as soon as the situation allows it to do so.
Biden has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is guilty of genocide because of the damage and death that has been done to Ukraine. On Thursday, Vice President Biden said that he would give Ukraine a new package of military aid worth $800 million. This package would include heavy artillery and drones, he said.
Congress approved $6.5 billion in military aid for Ukraine and its allies last month, as part of $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine and its allies after Russia invaded.
For a meeting of NATO defence ministers and other donor countries in Ramstein, Germany, Austin will go to Ramstein on Tuesday. Blinken will go back to Washington, while Austin will go to the meeting.
That meeting will look at what’s happening on the ground, how to help Ukraine get more security aid, and how to fill the gaps in Europe’s defence that were caused by the war in Ukraine, officials say. In the meeting, there will be a representative from more than 20 different countries there.
There were a lot of Ukrainian officials at the meeting: Zelensky was there, as well as Dmytro Kuleba for Foreign Affairs; Olexiy Reznikov for Defense; Ambassador Oskana Markarova; Andrii Sybiya for Zelensky’s office; and Andrii Zaluzhnyi for the Defense Ministry.
Tom Sullivan, Lt. Gen. Randy George, and Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper also worked for the United States. Blinken and Austin were also there.
