Blinken arrives in Ukraine in show of US solidarity amid Russian attacks
KYIV — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in the first visit to Ukraine by a senior U.S. official since Congress passed a long-delayed $61 billion military aid package for the country last month.
The previously undisclosed trip aims to show U.S. solidarity with Ukraine as it struggles to fend off heavy Russian bombardment on its northeastern border.
Blinken, who arrived in Kyiv by train early on Tuesday morning, hopes to “send a strong signal of reassurance to the Ukrainians who are obviously in a very difficult moment,” said a U.S. official who briefed reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity.
“The Secretary’s mission here is really to talk about how our supplemental assistance is going to be executed in a fashion to help shore up their defenses (and) enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield,” the official said.
Artillery, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and air defense interceptors approved by President Joe Biden on April 24 were already reaching the Ukrainian forces, the official said.
Blinken will reassure Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of enduring U.S. support and deliver a speech focused on Ukraine’s future, the official said.
Kyiv has been on the back foot on the battlefield for months as Russian troops have slowly advanced, mainly in the Donetsk region to the south, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortages of troop manpower and artillery shells. Russia’s forces hold a significant advantage in manpower and munitions.
On Monday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was trying to accelerate “the tempo of the deliveries” of weapons to Ukraine to help it reverse its disadvantage.
“The delay put Ukraine in a hole and we’re trying to help them dig out of that hole as rapidly as possible,” Sullivan said, adding that a fresh package of weapons was going to be announced this week.
