On the Polish -Ukrainian Border (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after a secret visit to Kiev that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to win his country the war against Russia . and that the United States. Help him achieve this.
“They have the mentality that they want to win and we want to help them win,” Austin told reporters in Poland, Ukraine the day after a three -hour face -to -face meeting with Zelensky.
Austin said the nature of the fighting in Ukraine has changed now that Russia has moved away from the forested northern region to focus on the eastern industrial center of Donbass. Due to the nature of the battle, Ukraine’s military needs also evolved and Zelensky is now more focused on tanks, artillery and other ammunition.
“The first step to winning is believing you can win,” Austin said. “We believe they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support and we will do everything we can to do it for them.”
The visit of Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was the highest level of U.S. visits to the capital since Russia invaded in late February.
They told Zelensky and his advisers that the United States had provided more than $ 300 million in foreign military funding and approved the sale of ammunition worth $ 165 million.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that “Russia continues its cruel treatment of parts of the country” and that Russia “has failed in its war objectives” and that Ukraine will be successful.
Latest: https://t.co/IOc5VkJ4Dp
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/yROIZASKd6
– Sky News (@SkyNews) April 25, 2022
“We had the opportunity to show our continued strong support for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said. “We think it’s an important time to be there, to have a face-to-face conversation.”
Blinken said their meeting with Ukrainians lasted three hours for extensive talks, including the help the country needs in the coming weeks.
“The strategy we have developed, the tremendous support for Ukraine, the tremendous pressure on Russia, the solidarity with the more than 30 countries involved in this effort are providing concrete results,” Blinken said.
“When it comes to the goals of the Russian war, Russia will lose. Ukraine will be successful. Russia’s main goal is to completely seize Ukraine, to seize its sovereignty, to seize its independence. It has failed.”
When asked what he considered the success of the United States, Austin said, “We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democracy capable of defending its sovereign territory. Ukraine is invaded”.
They also said Biden would soon announce his candidacy for ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, and that American diplomats who left Ukraine before the war would begin returning to the country next week. The US Embassy in Kiev will remain closed for now.
Brink, a career foreign service officer, has served as ambassador to Slovakia since 2019. He has previously served in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia and Uzbekistan, as well as on the White House National Security Council. The post requires approval from the United States Senate.
Journalists who traveled to Poland with Austin and Blinken were prevented from reporting until the end of the trip, were not allowed to accompany them on a ground trip to Ukraine, and were not allowed to specify where they met the cabinet in the south- eastern Poland. Returning members. State Department and Pentagon officials are talking about security concerns.
Austin and Blinken announced a total of $ 713 million in foreign military funding for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries; $ 322 million is allocated for Kiev. The rest will be divided between NATO members and other countries that have provided Ukraine with vital military supplies since the war with Russia began, officials said.
These funds are different from previous US military assistance to Ukraine. It is not a donation to the U.S. Department of Defense for reduced supplies, but money that countries can use to buy supplies they may need.
The new currency, along with the sale of $ 165 million of non-US Ammunition compatible with Soviet-era weapons used by Ukrainians, will increase the total amount of US military aid to Ukraine to $ 3.7 billion, says of officers. officers.
Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for genocide and deaths in Ukraine. On Thursday, Biden said he would provide $ 800 million in military aid to Ukraine, including heavy artillery and aircraft.
Last month, Congress approved $ 6.5 billion in military aid as part of $ 13.6 billion in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its allies.
From Poland, Blinken plans to return to Washington, while Austin will travel to Rammstein, Germany on Tuesday for a meeting of defense ministers from NATO and other donor countries.
The discussion will discuss ground battlefield upgrades, additional security assistance in Ukraine, and long -term defense needs in Europe, including how to increase military production to fill the gaps left by the war in Ukraine, said the officers. . More than 20 countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting.
Associated Press writer David Reese contributed to this report from Bangkok.
Source: Huffpost
