The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday morning on his first visit to Ukraine since a major US aid package was passed last month, as Ukrainian forces struggle to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks.
Blinken, who arrived by train from Poland in an unannounced visit, met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, shortly after arriving.
“We know this is a challenging time. But we also know that in the near term the assistance is now on the way, some of it has already arrived and more of it will be arriving,” Blinken said. “And that’s going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the battlefield.”
Zelenskiy described the US aid as crucial, and thanked Blinken, but also said Ukraine desperately needed two more air defence systems to protect the second city of Kharkiv, which has been hit repeatedly by Russian strikes in recent weeks.
Addressing Blinken in English, Zelenskiy said air defence supplies were “the biggest deficit for us”, with Russia conducting long-range aerial attacks since March that have pounded electricity facilities and caused blackouts.
“Really we need today two Patriots for Kharkiv, for Kharkiv region because there the people are under attack. Civilians, warriors, everybody they are under Russian missiles.”
Blinken’s visit, his fourth to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, comes at a difficult time for Kyiv, with a Russian offensive in Kharkiv region leading to thousands of displaced residents and fears of losing territory already liberated from Russian control once in a 2022 counteroffensive. Ukraine is also struggling to mobilise new recruits to help address the discrepancies of weaponry and manpower in Russia’s favour along the frontline.
In recent months, the war in Gaza has drawn away attention from Ukraine, and there is also a fear in Kyiv of attention waning as the US moves into an election cycle.
Three weeks ago, Joe Biden signed a $60bn aid package for Ukraine after months of blocking by elements of the Republican party. The delay in passing the package was having a real impact on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, officials in Kyiv have said.
The state department said Blinken would meet a range of top Ukrainian officials “to 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”.
A senior official travelling with Blinken told Reuters that artillery, air defence systems and long-range ballistic missiles had already been delivered to Ukraine since the aid package was approved.
Before Blinken’s trip, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Washington DC that the White House was “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of US weapons shipments to Ukraine.
“The level of intensity being exhibited right now in terms of moving stuff is at a 10 out of 10,” he said.
Blinken is also due to give a speech in Kyiv on Tuesday, where he is expected to laud Ukraine’s “strategic successes” in the war, an attempt to provide some positive messaging amid the current gloom over Ukraine’s prospects of victory.
