US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that the US military aid that is on the way for Ukraine, "it will fundamentally change the situation” on the battlefield, the Associated Press reported. The agency specifies that the American first diplomat was on an unannounced visit to Kiev today to reassure Ukraine, which is facing a new large-scale Russian offensive, BTA reported.
In increasingly intense attacks along Ukraine's northeastern border in recent days, Russian troops have seized about 100-125 square kilometers of territory that includes at least seven villages, analysts said, citing sources with open access. Although most of these villages were already depopulated, thousands more civilians left the area fleeing the fighting.
Analysts have described the current situation as one of the most dangerous for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today called for more air defense systems to protect civilians from Russian shelling in the northeast part of the country.
„We know this is a difficult moment,”, Blinken said in the Ukrainian capital, where he met with Zelensky. He added, however, that American military aid would “radically change the situation on the battlefield”. The US secretary of state is visiting Ukraine less than a month after Congress approved a long-delayed military aid package that provides $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, much of which will go toward filling severe shortages of artillery and missile systems. air defense of Kiev, AP points out.
Some of those funds are “already on their way,” Blinken said. Another part has already arrived in Ukraine. Zelensky thanked Blinken for the help, but added that more help was needed, including two Patriot air defense systems that were urgently needed to defend Kharkiv.
„People are under attack: civilians, soldiers, everyone. "They are under the attack of Russian missiles," he said. Artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and long-range ballistic missiles have already been delivered, some of them already on the front lines, said a senior US official traveling with the secretary of state on the overnight train from Poland, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity anonymity.
Blinken's goal in this, his fourth trip to Kiev since Russian troops began their invasion, is to underscore the commitment of the administration of US President Joe Biden to the defense and long-term security of Ukraine, US officials said. They noted that since Biden signed the aid package late last month, the U.S. has already announced $1.4 billion in short-term military aid and $6 billion in long-term aid to Kiev.