The US Secretary of State visited Kyiv to offer new military aid
The Secretary of State of the United States Anthony Blinken visited Kyiv today to pledge $2 billion in new security aid, including support that the Biden administration hopes will bolster a Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian forces in the south and east.
Blinken’s second visit in the Ukrainian capital following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February came as Ukraine touted progress in its bid to retake territory seized by Russia near Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the fortified presidential administration building in Kyiv, Blinken said his visit comes at a “defining moment” for Ukraine, noting that the counteroffensive is proving effective.
“I think the reason for this success is that this is your country, not Russia’s, and it’s as basic as that.”Blinken told the Zelensky.
Zelensky said Ukraine was grateful to the United States for its “huge support” which, he said, was helping Ukraine “return our regions and territories.”
Blinken also met with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and visited a children’s hospital where he met young men and women injured in the Russian bombings.
Blinken announced a new $2.2 billion foreign military funding package for Ukraine and 18 other countries deemed at risk by Russian aggression. An official said earlier that the package would amount to 2 billion dollars.
About $1 billion will go to Ukraine, the official said. The rest will be distributed to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The money is intended to protect sovereignty, modernize security forces, strengthen partnerships with the NATO transatlantic military alliance and strengthen the ability to “counter Russian influence and aggression,” the official said in an email.
The aid comes in the form of grants and loans that allow countries to buy US-made weapons and military equipment and must be approved by the US Congress.
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