Blinken, in Kyiv, says U.S aid arriving at ‘challenging’ time for Ukraine

Reuters:

KYIV, May 14 – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a trip to Kyiv on Tuesday that part of a major U.S. aid package had arrived in Ukraine and that more was on its way that was going to “make a real difference”.

Blinken’s trip is the first by a senior U.S. official since Congress passed a long-delayed $61 billion aid package last month. Kyiv’s outmanned troops are battling a new Russian offensive in the northeast as well as assaults in the east.

“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.”

Ukraine recaptured swathes of territory during the first year after Russia’s invasion in 2022, but a Ukrainian counter-offensive faltered last year and in recent months Russia has retaken the initiative at the frontline.

Military aid from Washington, Kyiv’s main backer, was held up for months, blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Congress until they finally allowed a vote last month, when it passed with support from both parties.

Zelenskiy, addressing Blinken in English, 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.