US promises Ukraine military aid to make ‘real difference’ on the way

Aljazeera News

Published: May 14, 2024 12:46 PM

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has promised Ukraine that aid that will make “a real difference” on the battlefield is on the way.

Blinken arrived in Kyiv on a surprise diplomatic visit on Tuesday designed to underline the support of the United States. Political wrangling in Washington held up a military aid package that was finally approved in April. In the meantime, Russia has pushed to take advantage, launching huge barrages of missiles and opening a new frontline in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The trip is the first by a senior US official since the $61 billion support was approved. Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and promised the US aid would make “a real difference against the Russian aggression on the battlefield”.

“The assistance is now on the way, some of it has already arrived and more of it will be arriving,” the US official promised.

“A strong, successful, thriving, free Ukraine is the best possible rebuke to [Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin,” he said, before stating that Washington is “determined that over time, Ukraine stands strongly on its own feet: militarily, economically, democratically”.

Zelenskyy lauded the “crucial” US aid, stressing the country’s biggest deficit – air defense. He told Blinken that Ukraine needs two air defense batteries for the northeastern city of Kharkiv, being pummeled by Russian air strikes.

“Civilians, warriors, everybody – they are under Russian missiles,” Zelenskyy said.

Accelerating ‘the tempo’

Blinken’s visit is his fourth since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. He was last in the country in September last year.

On Monday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was trying to accelerate “the tempo of the deliveries” of weapons to Ukraine and reverse the disadvantage that resulted from Congress sitting on the aid package for months.

“The delay put Ukraine in a hole and we’re trying to help them dig out of that hole as rapidly as possible,” Sullivan said, adding that a new package of weapons was going to be announced this week.

Artillery, air defence interceptors and long-range ballistic missiles have already been delivered, some of them to the front lines, said the US official travelling with Blinken.

Russia occupies about 18 percent of Ukraine.

It launched a new offensive in the Kharkiv region on Friday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.