(Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on Thursday to pledge $2 billion in fresh security assistance, including support the Biden administration hopes will bolster a nascent Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian forces in the south and east.
Blinken’s second visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s February invasion comes as Ukraine reported progress in its effort to retake territory seized by Russia near Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.
Blinken met Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, saw U.S. diplomats, and visited a children’s hospital, where he met youngsters injured from Russian bombardments.
A State Department official said Blinken would use the trip to announce a $2 billion foreign military financing package, approximately $1 billion of which would be allocated to Ukraine.
The rest would be divided among Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The money is intended to defend sovereignty, modernize security forces, enhance partnerships with transatlantic military alliance NATO, and strengthen capacity “to counter Russian influence and aggression,” the official said by email.
The aid comes in the form of U.S. grants and loans that enable countries to purchase weapons and defence equipment made in the United States. It requires U.S. Congress to be notified.
Biden also approved a separate $675 million in weapons to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier on Thursday as ministers met in Germany to discuss how to support Ukraine long-term.
The latest tranche of weapons will include more ammunitions, Humvees and anti-tank systems, officials said.
Related: US approves $675 million more in weapons for Ukraine as defense leaders meet
COUNTEROFFENSIVE
The latest aid brings total U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the State Department official said.
“All of this security assistance (to Ukraine) is trying to help ensure that Ukraine is successful in this counteroffensive,” said another State Department official, who briefed reporters in southeastern Poland ahead of the visit.
Blinken had travelled to Poland with reporters but officials did not allow media to accompany him into Ukraine, citing security reasons.
Regaining territory currently occupied by Russia would put Ukraine in a stronger position in potential future talks to end the war, a third State Department official said.
“Right now, the Ukrainians do not have a viable map from which to negotiate,” the official said. “That’s why we’re supporting this counteroffensive…to put them in the strongest possible position, and have (Russian President Vladimir) Putin understand that after hemorrhaging all this money, all this capital, all these weapons, all these young Russian boys — who have also been chewed up along with Ukrainians — that it’s time for him to come to the table in good faith.”
The visit also comes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly later this month in New York, where Blinken will address world leaders as Washington attempts to hold together opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Meeting Ukraine’s leaders would help Blinken push back on concerns about the economic impacts of the war, including in the global south where the raised cost of grain and fertilizer have led to food security concerns, the U.S. officials said.