KYIV: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced trip meant to reassure Ukrainians of continued Washington’s support and flow of arms as Russia pummels the northeastern Kharkiv region.
According to AFP, marking his fourth trip to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the US top diplomat arrived by overnight train from Poland and was due to meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The trip comes just weeks following the US Congress finally passed a $61 billion package of aid for Kyiv following months of political backbiting.
The financial aid is likely to flow at an accelerated pace as the US seeks to make up for lost months while the US Congress struggled to agree on help.
a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the media on the condition of anonymity that the visit is to send a strong message of reassurance to the people of Ukraine who are obviously in a very tough moment both with grinding war on the Eastern Front but also with the Russians now increasing some cross-border strikes into Kharkiv.
The US Secretary of State intends in particular to detail how Washington’s aid will “be executed in a fashion to help shore up their defences in order to enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battleground.
The last trip by a senior US official was in March, when Jake Sullivan went to Kyiv. The US official said that Mocow is throwing everything they have in the east and expanding the fighting. However, the officials expressed hope that the Ukrainians will increasingly be effective in pushing the Russian forces back as help flows in both from the US and other partners.
