US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Ukraine amidst the arrival of weapons from a recent American aid package at the front line. His visit coincides with Ukraine’s efforts to repel a significant Russian advance near Kharkiv, its second largest city.
Blinken is scheduled to hold meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials, with US officials indicating that he will convey a message of support and reassurance. His visit comes three weeks after the US Congress approved a new $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, following over a year of political gridlock in Washington.
The aid package includes air defense interceptors, artillery, and ATACMS long-range precision guided missiles, which are now being deployed to the front line with American funding.
“We have already started to flow in artillery [and] long-range ATACMS that can range any part of Ukraine, and also other air defence capabilities that are meant to meet the most pressing needs, particularly with an eye towards Russia’s activities right now in Kharkiv,” the official said.
Mr. Blinken traveled nine hours from the Polish border to get in Kyiv via sleeper train.
He landed on Monday in Rzeszów, a town in southeast Poland, whose airport is currently a significant logistical hub for supplying military hardware and humanitarian goods to Ukraine.
More than two years into the war in Ukraine, the airfield’s perimeter is dotted with US Patriot missile defense batteries, serving as a sobering reminder of the country’s role in fortifying defenses at NATO’s boundary.
Mr Blinken will deliver a message of “strong reassurance” to the Ukrainians “in a difficult moment”, a US official said. This will include talks on helping the country take back the military “initiative”, said the official.
Ukraine was facing not only a “grinding battle on the eastern front”, the official added, but also the latest cross-border attack towards Kharkiv.
Asked by the BBC whether the delay in weapons supply by Congress could have contributed to Moscow’s decision to carry out the assault, the official said they would not “draw any direct correlation”, but added “the Ukrainians have certainly been in a more difficult position because they waited a long time for this assistance”.
With additional armaments coming in from the US, Washington expects that Ukraine will be able to defend itself more actively against the Russians and grow more capable of retaining its positions and retaliating when it receives support.
