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On Kyiv visit, Blinken, Austin pledge more security aid
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Poland on Saturday and took a train the following day into Ukraine, where they met President Volodomyr Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials.
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In this image provided by the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (center) on April 24, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Kyiv Sunday, the first visit by high-level American representatives to Ukraine since Russia invaded, US officials said. (AFP/US Department of Defense)
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ashington's top diplomat and its defense secretary visited Kyiv on Sunday, using the first official US visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded two months ago to announce a gradual return of US diplomats and the nomination of a new ambassador.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Poland on Saturday and took a train the following day into Ukraine, where they met President Volodomyr Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials.
"In terms of Russia’s war aims, Russia has already failed and Ukraine has already succeeded," Blinken told a briefing in Poland after the two officials returned from the meeting.
The visit was designed to show Western support for Ukraine and the cabinet secretaries also pledged new aid worth $713 million for Zelensky's government and countries in the region, where Russia's invasion has raised fears of further aggression by Moscow.
It also highlighted the shift in the conflict since Ukrainian forces, armed with a massive influx of weapons from the West, successfully repelled a Russian assault on Kyiv.
"Our focus in the meeting was to talk about those things that would enable us to win the current fight and also build for tomorrow," Austin told the briefing, calling the meeting in Kyiv "very productive."
Russian forces have regrouped to try to capture more territory in the southeastern Donbas region, letting foreign leaders visit the capital and some Western nations resume their diplomatic presence in recent weeks, but Washington has been cautious about a return amid sporadic Russian missile attacks.
