United States promises more aid and return of diplomats on visit to kyiv


NEAR THE POLISH-UKRAINE BORDER (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after a covert visit to kyiv that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy he is committed to winning his country’s fight against Russia and that the United States will help him achieve that goal.

“He has the mindset that they want to win, and we have the mindset that we want to help them win,” Austin told reporters in Poland, the day after the three-hour face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy in Ukraine.

Austin said the nature of the fighting in Ukraine has changed now that Russia has moved away from the forested regions of the north to concentrate on the industrial heartland of eastern Donbas. As the nature of the fighting has evolved, so have Ukraine’s military needs, and Zelenskyy is now concentrating on more tanks, artillery and other munitions.

“The first step to winning is to believe that you can win,” Austin said. “We think they can win if they have the right team, the right support, and we’ll do everything we can … to make sure that gets through to them.”

The trip by Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was the highest-level US visit to the capital since Russia invaded in late February.

Zelenskyy and his advisers were told that the United States would provide more than $300 million in foreign military financing and had approved a $165 million munitions sale.

“We had the opportunity to directly demonstrate our continued strong support for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said. “This was, in our opinion, an important moment to be there, to have detailed face-to-face conversations. .”

Blinken said his meeting with the Ukrainians lasted three hours for wide-ranging talks, including what help the country needs in the coming weeks.

“The strategy that we have implemented, the massive support for Ukraine, the massive pressure against Russia, the solidarity with more than 30 countries that are participating in these efforts is having real results,” Blinken said.

“When it comes to Russia’s war goals, Russia is failing. Ukraine is succeeding. Russia has sought as its main objective to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed.”

Asked what the United States considers a success, Austin said “we want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, a democratic country that is able to protect its sovereign territory, we want Russia to be weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.

They also said that Biden would soon announce his nominee for ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, and that American diplomats who left Ukraine before the war would begin returning to the country next week. The US Embassy in kyiv will remain closed for the time being.

Brink, a career foreign service officer, has served since 2019 as ambassador to Slovakia. He previously held positions in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, as well as on the White House National Security Council. The publication requires the confirmation of the Senate of the United States.

The journalists who traveled with Austin and Blinken to Poland were prohibited from reporting on the trip until it was over, were not allowed to accompany them on their overland trip to Ukraine, and were prohibited from specifying where in southeastern Poland they met with the journalist. Cabinet. members upon their return. State Department and Pentagon officials cited security concerns.

Austin and Blinken announced a total of $713 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries; about 322 million dollars are destined for kyiv. The rest will be divided among NATO members and other nations that have provided Ukraine with critical military supplies since the war with Russia began, officials said.

Such financing is different from previous US military assistance to Ukraine. It is not a donation from the US Department of Defense reserves, but cash that countries can use to buy supplies they may need.

The new money, along with the sale of $165 million worth of non-American-made munitions that are compatible with Soviet-era weapons used by Ukrainians, brings the total amount of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to $3.7 billion. since the invasion, officials said.

Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of genocide for the destruction and death caused in Ukraine. Just on Thursday, Biden said he would provide a new $800 million military aid package to Ukraine that included heavy artillery and drones.

Congress approved $6.5 billion in military assistance last month as part of $13.6 billion in spending for Ukraine and its allies in response to the Russian invasion.

From Poland, Blinken plans to return to Washington while Austin will head to Ramstein, Germany, for a Tuesday meeting of defense ministers from NATO and other donor countries.

That discussion will look at battlefield upgrades from the ground, additional security assistance for Ukraine, and long-term defense needs in Europe, including how to increase military production to fill gaps caused by the war in Ukraine, officials said. More than 20 nations are expected to send representatives to the meeting.

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Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to this report from Bangkok.



Reference-news.yahoo.com

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