KYIV: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a trip to Kyiv on Tuesday that part of a major U.S. aid package had arrived in Ukraine and that more was on its way that was going to "make a real difference".
Blinken's trip is the first by a senior U.S. official since Congress passed a long-delayed $61 billion aid package last month. Kyiv's outmanned troops are battling a new Russian offensive in the northeast as well as assaults in the east.
"We know this is a challenging time. But we also know that in the near term the assistance is now on the way, some of it has already arrived and more of it will be arriving," Blinken said. "And that's going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the battlefield."
Ukraine recaptured swathes of territory during the first year after Russia's attack in 2022, but a Ukrainian counter-offensive faltered last year and in recent months Russia has retaken the initiative at the frontline.
Zelenskiy, addressing Blinken in English, said air defence supplies were "the biggest deficit for us" with Russia conducting long-range aerial attacks since March that have pounded electricity facilities and caused blackouts.
"Really we need today two Patriots for Kharkiv, for Kharkiv region because there the people are under attack. Civilians, warriors, everybody they are under Russian missiles."
Blinken arrived in Kyiv by train early on Tuesday morning on the previously undisclosed visit, which comes days after Russia launched a ground incursion into the north of the region of Kharkiv, opening a new front and stretching Ukraine's soldiers.
The trip aimed 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 travelling with Blinken.
"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 defences (and) enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield," the official said.
Artillery, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and air defence interceptors approved by President Joe Biden on April 24 were already reaching the Ukrainian forces, the official said.
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.
At the meeting with Blinken, Zelenskiy thanked the United States for its "bipartisan" support and said he also wanted to discuss security guarantees and an upcoming peace summit. — Reuters
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