Kyiv, 15 May 2024(TDI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise trip to Ukraine, and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday as Russia is mounting its fresh attack in the country’s east.
According to the reports, the top US diplomat is the first senior US official to visit Ukraine after Congress passed a long-delaying supplementary package of $ 61 billion for Ukraine aimed at curbing the advancement of Russian forces on the battlefield.
In a meeting between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Ukrainian President requested Blinken to provide more military support to the Ukraine military, including the air defense system. “We want to get it immediately, and second is the air defense system, which is a deficit for us,” he added.
Moreover, he urged Blinken to provide two patriots for the Kharkiv region, which is Russia’s new front on the battlefield to save civilians, soldiers, and everyone who is under attack by Russia’s forces of aggression.
Antony Blinken expressed optimism regarding requests for military assistance and assured that US aid would be flowing steadily. “We know this is a challenging time. But we also know that very soon, the assistance is now on the way. Some of it has already arrived, and more of it will be reaching,” he said.
In addition, Antony Blinken said that military assistance will help to counter the ongoing offensive of Russian forces in the battleground. I have come to acknowledge “you are not alone,” he said during the speech at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Antony Blinken and Volodymyr Zelensky “discussed recent battlefield updates and the importance of newly-arrived US security assistance to helping resist Russian attacks,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
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Russia is pushing ahead with its new advance into northeastern Ukraine after making several major advances there over the past week – Moscow’s most significant gains since Kyiv’s forces recaptured Kharkiv in late summer 2022.
Russia now controls about 18% of Ukraine and has been gaining ground since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counter-offensive to make serious inroads against Russian troops dug in behind deep minefields.
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