US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, marking the first visit of a Biden administration official to Ukraine following the long-delayed passage of US supplemental funding to the war-torn country, the State Department announced.
The top US diplomat will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and deliver a speech later Tuesday to highlight the US’ continued support for Ukraine across the board, including militarily, economically, in the energy space, and in democratic institution building, according to a senior US official.
Blinken will also highlight the strategic successes Ukraine has achieved during its ongoing war against Russia’s invasion, the official said.
Amid Ukrainian setbacks on the battlefield, Blinken intends to send a “strong signal of reassurance to the Ukrainians,” the official said.
The visit comes as Russia continues its new push into northeastern Ukraine after making several major advances there over the past week – marking Moscow’s most significant gains since Kyiv’s forces recaptured Kharkiv in late summer 2022.
Blinken’s trip also comes weeks after US President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that includes nearly $61 billion for Ukraine following a successful six-month campaign by the White House to build support in a House GOP conference increasingly resistant to sending more money overseas.
“The secretary’s mission here is really to talk about how our supplemental assistance is going to be executed in a fashion that helps shore up their defenses, enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield looking forward,” the US official said.
Blinken will also discuss “the other steps that we’re taking to provide long-term assurance and commitment on the security front to the Ukrainians, including our bilateral security agreement,” the official added.
During his fourth visit to Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, Blinken is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as well as with civil society and private sector partners.
They will “discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new US security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery,” according to a State Department statement.
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