US Secretary Of State and Defense Meet With Zelensky In Kyiv – While their mission was supposed to be a clandestine one due to security concerns, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin flew to Kyiv via Poland and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the meeting, the US pledged over $300 million in new aid for Ukraine.
And more importantly, the US has also pledged to also re-open its embassy in Kyiv. This visit by the two secretaries was the highest-level American visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The trip almost didn’t happen due to security concerns as President Zelensky leaked out that the two US secretaries were coming to Kyiv prior to them arriving. But after crossing the border from Poland, the Americans took a train to Kyiv.
After returning to Poland on the return leg of their trip, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin spoke with reporters about the meeting with President Zelensky.
“This was an important time to be there,” Blinken said. “An important time for Ukraine, for the war, and an important moment to have face-to-face conversations in detail.”
“We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory,” Austin said, as he and Secretary Blinken answered questions inside a warehouse full of humanitarian aid and munitions bound for Ukraine.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin added. “It had already lost a lot of military capability and a lot of its troops, quite frankly, and we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability.”
The comments by Austin are a stark and surprising thing for the secretary to say. Some of our European allies are left wondering if that means that the US wants to expand the war with Russia.
Austin: Ukraine Can Win With the Right Equipment –
Defense Secretary Austin also added that the Ukrainian military can win this latest war with Russia if they are furnished with the right equipment. The Pentagon announced that Austin is expected to meet with the “stakeholders” from up to 40 nations at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 26, to discuss how to deliver extended and more lethal aid to Ukraine.
“In terms of their ability to win – the first step in winning is believing that you can win. And so, they believe that we can win. We believe that we… they can win, if they have the right equipment, the right support, and we’re going to do everything we can and continue to do everything we can,” Austin said.
Following the meeting, President Zelensky issued a statement praising President Biden and thanking the United States for the “unprecedented assistance of the United States to Ukraine.”
It isn’t clear yet what the latest pledge of equipment will include, but thus far during the war, the US has provided about $3.4 billion dollars worth of aid to Ukraine.
US To Reopen Its Embassy In Kyiv, Ukraine:
Secretary Blinken said that “starting next week,” US diplomats will be back on the job in Kyiv as the US will slowly reopen its embassy.
“We’re doing it deliberately. We’re doing it carefully with the security of our personnel foremost in mind,” Blinken said.
President Biden is expected to nominate Bridget Brink as the US Ambassador to Ukraine. A career diplomat, she currently serves as the Ambassador to Slovakia. The president said that Brink is “deeply experienced in the region.” The US hasn’t had an ambassador in Ukraine since Marie Yovanovitch was recalled back in May 2019.
That vow is an obvious show of support from Washington to Kyiv as they try to support the Ukrainians in their fight to remain free from Russia.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
