US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and announced additional military support for and gradual return of US diplomats to the war-torn country. .
In the highest-level US visit to the capital since the Russian invasion in late February, Blinken and Austin told Zelenskyy and his advisers on Sunday that Washington would provide more than $300 million in funding. military to foreign countries and approved the sale of $165 million in ammunition.
They also said US President Joe Biden will soon announce his nominee to be ambassador to Ukraine and that US diplomats who left Ukraine before the war will begin returning home next week.
The US Embassy in Kyiv will remain closed for the time being.
Zelenskyy was announced Blinken and Austin’s visit came on Saturday, but the Biden administration declined to confirm it and declined to discuss details of a possible visit even though the plan has been in progress for more than a week.
Journalists traveling with US officials to Poland were prohibited from covering the trip until it was over, from accompanying them on the overland journey into Ukraine, and prohibited from specifying where they waited for the arrivals. cabinet members in southeastern Poland. return.
Officials at the State Department and the Pentagon cited security concerns.
Austin and Blinken announced a total of $713 million in foreign military funding for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries. Of that, about $322 million was earmarked for Kyiv.
“It will provide the support for capabilities that Ukraine needs, especially the war in Donbas,” said a US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “This support will also help Ukraine’s armed forces transition to more advanced weapons and air defense systems, essentially NATO-capable systems.”
The rest will be divided among NATO members and other countries that have supplied Ukraine with vital military supplies since the war with Russia began, officials said.
Such financing is different from previous US military assistance to Ukraine.
It’s not a donation to the Defense Department’s stockpiles that have been drained, but cash that countries can use to buy supplies they may need.
Day trips to Lviv
The new money, along with the sale of $165 million in non-U.S.-made ammunition compatible with Soviet-era weapons used by Ukrainians, brings the total amount of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to $3.7 billion. since the invasion, officials said.
Zelenskyy urged Blinken and Austin not to leave empty-handed.
U.S. officials say they believe the new assistance will answer at least some Ukrainian pleas for more help.
New types of artillery, including artillery, continue to be delivered at a rapid pace to the Ukrainian military, which is being trained for use in neighboring countries, officials said. know.
Diplomatically, Blinken told Zelenskyy that Biden will announce the nomination of veteran diplomat Bridget Brink as the next US ambassador to Ukraine.
Brink is a professional foreign service officer, having served since 2019 as ambassador to Slovakia.
Previously, she served on assignments in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia and Uzbekistan as well as with the White House National Security Council. The post requires confirmation by the US Senate.
Blinken also told the Ukrainian Foreign Minister that small staff from the now-closed US Embassy in Kyiv, who had moved to Poland from temporary offices in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine, would begin to work. show “day trips” to Lviv in the coming days.
“There is no substitute for that face-to-face engagement, and of course, there is a symbol of returning to the country,” the State Department official said.
Officials said the United States has also accelerated its review of security conditions in the capital, and said the State Department will reopen its embassy there as soon as the situation allows.
Biden has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of genocide for the devastation and death inflicted on Ukraine. Just Thursday, Biden said he would provide a new $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine that includes heavy artillery and drones. The US Congress approved $6.5 billion in military assistance last month as part of $13.6 billion spent on Ukraine and its allies in response to Russia’s invasion.
From Poland, Blinken plans to return to Washington while Austin will travel to Ramstein, Germany, for Tuesday’s meeting between NATO defense ministers and other donor countries.
That discussion will look at battlefield updates from the ground up, additional security support for Ukraine, and long-term defense needs in Europe, including how to ramp up military production to fill the gap. void caused by the war in Ukraine, officials said.
More than 20 countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting.
Ukrainian officials participating in Sunday’s meeting in Kyiv included Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Defense Minister Olexiy Reznikov, Ambassador Oskana Markarova, head of the presidential administration Andriy Yermak, State Minister Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and Andrii Sybiya of the Zelenskyy office.
Representing the United States in addition to Blinken and Austin were Deputy Chief of Staff of the State Department Tom Sullivan, Senior Military Assistant Lieutenant General Randy George and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper.
