KYIV – Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged an additional $1 billion in assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday during a visit to Kyiv aimed at boosting support for the country as its military makes only incremental gains against entrenched Russian forces and U.S. lawmakers begin debate about future funding for the war.
The top U.S. diplomat said he received a battlefield update from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had just returned from the front line, and came away with “tremendous confidence that Ukraine will prevail” as it pushes to retake occupied territory.
But when asked by reporters what undergirds his optimism, Blinken fell back on a statistic he has cited since July indicating that Ukraine has recaptured roughly half the territory that Russia had seized since the start of its full-scale invasion.
“We are doing everything we can to maximize our support to Ukraine as it pursues the counteroffensive,” Blinken said.
Blinken traveled to Ukraine amid a barrage of Russian missile attacks – some that Ukraine shot down, others it did not. A missile strike on a market in the eastern city of Kostiantynivka killed at least 17 people and injured at least 32 in one of the deadliest bombardments in recent months, Ukrainian authorities said.
The two-day trip is Blinken’s fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion started in February 2022 and his sixth since taking office. The $1 billion in new U.S. funding includes air defense components, 155mm artillery ammunition, antitank missiles, air navigation systems and depleted uranium rounds, among other equipment. It also includes $100 million to support Ukraine’s long-term military needs and $300 million to help maintain law and order in newly liberated areas.
Zelensky expressed thanks to President Biden and to Congress for showing “great unity” in their support for Ukraine, while noting that this is a “tough period” for his country.
Blinken, a close confidant of Biden, is among Ukraine’s staunchest supporters within the administration, repeatedly pushing officials at home and abroad to provide more sophisticated weaponry to Kyiv and tamping down calls for a negotiated cease-fire with Moscow.
His trip comes less than a month after Biden requested that Congress provide more than $24 billion in additional aid for Ukraine as some polls show U.S. public support for continued funding is slipping.
Blinken met first with American diplomats and personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Afterward, he laid a wreath at the city’s Berkovetske cemetery to commemorate fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
In the afternoon, he returned to the embassy, where he held a roundtable discussion with civil society organizations about anti-corruption efforts.
Blinken’s event on anti-corruption was aimed at signaling that the Biden administration takes government malfeasance seriously while maintaining its confidence in Zelensky, who announced on Sunday his decision to replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov with Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund.
Reznikov’s ouster comes amid a series of corruption controversies within the Defense Ministry related to the bribery of recruitment officers, and overpayment for food and other military supplies. Reznikov has not been charged or directly implicated in any of the scandals, and there is speculation in Kyiv that he will get another prominent post, perhaps as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Zelensky has previously taken heavily publicized steps to showcase his resolve in fighting corruption before the arrival of prominent international visitors, as he did in February ahead of a high-stakes meeting in Kyiv with European Union leaders.
Hours before Blinken’s arrival, Russia launched a missile assault on the Ukrainian capital, during which the sound of explosions could be heard throughout the city. The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said that Russian forces fired cruise missiles and possibly ballistic missiles but that all were all intercepted by air defenses.
Ukrainian officials said the region around the southern port of Odessa, where much of Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure is based, was also targeted in the early-morning attack.
But the missile strike in Kostiantynivka was particularly devastating and highlighted the war’s civilian toll.
“When someone in the world still attempts to deal with anything Russian, it means turning a blind eye to this reality,” Zelensky wrote in a social media post that included video of the deadly strike. “The audacity of evil. The brazenness of wickedness. Utter inhumanity.”
Earlier Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov used Blinken’s visit to repeat Russia’s position that Western aid to Ukraine is futile and will only cause more deaths by prolonging the war.
“We have repeatedly heard statements that they are going to continue to help Kyiv as long as it takes,” Peskov told journalists in his daily briefing. “In other words, they are going to continue to keep Ukraine in a state of war and to wage this war to the last Ukrainian, sparing no expense.”
Blinken, in remarks to reporters, said Ukraine has something that Russia never will – a reason to continue the battle. “Ukrainians are fighting for their own country, for their own future, for their own freedom. Russians are not,” he said.
Blinken arrived in the capital as Ukrainian troops are engaged in a difficult offensive to reclaim occupied areas in the country’s south, where Russian forces prepared for the attack by establishing heavily fortified defensive positions and mining huge swaths of territory. Those obstacles have proved extremely formidable.
A primary goal of the counteroffensive, which began in early June, is to push south and sever Russia’s “land bridge” to Crimea, a vital passageway that allows the Kremlin to supply its invading forces and that creates a protective buffer for the occupied peninsula, which Russia illegally invaded and annexed in 2014.
This year, Russia has fared better in defending its captured territory and has inflicted large casualties on the Ukrainian side while taking significant losses of its own.
Ukraine has made some progress in recent weeks, claiming to take control of the village of Robotyne. But the operation has been slow, and Russian forces simultaneously are fighting to retake occupied territory they lost last year in the northeast.
In recent weeks, the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Kyiv will fail to achieve a key goal of the offensive, retaking the southeastern city of Melitopol, an important transit hub that Moscow has turned into the occupied regional capital of Zaporizhzhia, one of four Ukrainian provinces that Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared – illegally – to be annexed to Russia.
Privately, senior U.S. officials say Kyiv strayed from Washington’s guidance to concentrate a large mass of forces on a single breakthrough point rather than surging along multiple axes. Ukraine has pushed back on second-guessing about its strategy in the counteroffensive, insisting that it knows the war better and noting that it needs ammunition, not advice.
Blinken, however, has consistently sought to broadcast an upbeat assessment of Ukraine’s efforts, a message he maintained Wednesday. “In the current counteroffensive, we are seeing real progress over the last few weeks,” he said.
U.S. lawmakers will want to see progress as they weigh a roughly $40 billion supplemental funding request put forward by the Biden administration last month. Besides providing Kyiv $24 billion in additional aid, the request includes funds for U.S. disaster relief and border security.
Some House Republicans want to consider parts of the request separately, as they have limited interest in continuing to spend more money on Ukraine. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday urged Republicans to support the package.
“It’s certainly not the time to go wobbly,” McConnell said. “Now, with Ukraine bravely defending its sovereignty and eroding Russia’s capacity to threaten NATO, it is not the time to ease up. . . . Helping Ukraine retake its territory means weakening one of America’s biggest strategic adversaries without firing a shot.”
Hard-right GOP lawmakers such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.) have spoken out against sending more aid to Ukraine, saying the conflict is not central to U.S. interests.
Since the start of the war, the Biden administration and Congress have directed more than $75 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
In recent months, the Kremlin repeatedly has blamed the West for Russia’s invasion, which has been condemned by a majority in the U.N. General Assembly. Putin is also facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes.
As they traveled to Kyiv, Blinken’s aides were reluctant to provide an overall assessment on the counteroffensive, saying part of the reason for the trip was to hear from Ukrainian officials about the current state of play. “We’ll have more to say about that on the back end,” a senior State Department official told reporters who accompanied the secretary, according to a readout of the conversation.
Another reason for the trip is the upcoming gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this month, Blinken’s aides said.
“The Ukrainians have an important mission in New York to continue to explain, to their allies and partners around the world, what’s going on and their continued need for support,” the senior official said. “It’s important for us to continue to lead that global effort to support them. And so having a chance to consult and align before we get to New York is very, very important.”
(c) 2023, The Washington Post · David L. Stern, John Hudson
And I have to cut back and penny pinch so that my tax dollars can go to Ukraine!
Why isn’t there a referendum for those who have to foot this bill to weigh in?
It’s not about whether or not Ukraine can win; it’s about supporting the Military-Industrial Complex. The profits of the arms industry is what drives our foreign policy. Eisenhower said it long ago.
And as far as it being “our money”; the leaders of our government NEVER see it is as our money, they view it as THEIR money to spend on themselves and their friends.
Every Yid has a chiyuv to send their personal maaser money to Zelenskyy and his goyish shiktza wife Olena. He 8s fighting for us. He cares about us. He’s earned it. He deserves it.
It must be publicized that — contrary to the total lies of the massive propaganda spewing from Washington & the “mainstream” media — Ukraine is ABSOLUTELY NOT any kind of a “democracy” or a “free” country in any way or form at all!! The severely evil dictator stud, Zelensky, tightly rules over it with an iron fist. He himself is a horrid Toeiva guy, who brazenly flaunts his Toeiva in public and forces Toeiva acceptance on the whole country. He has outlawed all political parties except his own and has outlawed all media news outlets except his own. A major component of his security & military forces is the gigantic group of contemporary Nazis in the country. These severely evil thugs, Yimach Shemam V’Zichram, are either direct continuations of the Nazi soldiers & officers who came there in World War II — and were strongly supported by much of Ukraine’s population — or are other wicked people who decided to become “spiritual heirs” to those World War II ones. The famous swastika flag & other swastika icons & Hitler chants & salutes are brazenly displayed among them.
Furthermore, Ukraine has become the hub & epicenter of heavy rings of the very worst corruptions of numerous western government leaders & other elites & officials. With the endless amounts of VERY big $$$$$$$$ flowing through the money laundering and countless other even worse criminal channels, it has become a GIGANTIC “cash cow” for all these severely wicked elites, which they absolutely cannot afford to loose.
Therefore, all this super-super-support for Ukraine has nothing whatsoever to do with “defending freedom” or “fighting for freedom.” The only “freedom” that is being upheld is Zelensky’s “freedom” to continue to make his big-in-public Toeiva parades, Rachmana Litzlan!! The only “freedom” that is being upheld is the corrupt elite’s “freedom” to continue to rake in big-under-the-table-money. The only “freedom” that is being upheld is the “freedom” of severely evil handlers, Yimach Shemam V’Zichram, to continue to cruelly abduct & traffic millions of children into the most horrific sinister evil exploitations, Rachmana Litzlan!!
This is 100% fake news because Blinken is not around anymore. It smelled from Compost and indeed it is.
It is very important to explain what is the severely sinister meaning of the term I mentioned: “Trafficking.” For example, in a certain locale, an advertising announcement will be sent out informing teenage girls about job offers of positions with prestigious celebrity magazines; a meeting will be held at which applicants will be considered. At the meeting, the hundreds of gathered girls are told about the fantastic careers ahead for them with the big $$$$$$$ they would make. So, understandably, the 100 or so girls who are accepted are thrilled & excited while the rest leave feeling sad & dejected.
When the accepted girls are transported to the “program,” they are taken & led into to some bleak warehouse or some dark dismal basement. Surrounded by huge severely mean monstrous men, they have the shocking realization that something is extremely wrong. Their shock is quickly turned into chilling absolute fright as they are bluntly told:
“YOUR LIVES UNTIL NOW ARE OVER!!” “YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR FAMILIES AGAIN!!” “YOU NOW BELONG TO ME!!” “IF YOU TRY TO ESCAPE, WE WILL KILL YOUR FATHER!! WE WILL KILL YOUR MOTHER!! WE KNOW WHERE THEY LIVE!!”
The “program” starts; a girl is given an “instruction.” If she balks at the “instruction,” she is whipped & beaten. If she balks “too many” times, she is killed, for “she stepped out of line!!”
With the United State’s Civil War of 1860 – 1865 and the subsequent exactment of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, slavery was officially outlawed. However, especially in recent years, this “new” slavery that I just described, this cruel fiendish tricking people into being abducted and “trafficked” into this slavery for THE MOST SINISTER PURPOSES that I just described, is extremely prevalent. Of course, it is in deep secret; it is “behind the scenes,” but it is extremely prevalent. It is extremely prevalent throughout our country of the United States, especially in the State of California, throughout many other parts of the world, AND, its hub, its epicenter, its “capital,” IS THE COUNTRY OF UKRAINE. Yes, the capital hub & epicenter of the sinister trafficking rings, Yimach Shemam V’Zichram — involving & serving countless evil western government officials & countless other rich & powerful elites — is in the tragically wreaked & ruined country of Ukraine.
To continue to prop all this up is where billions of our tax dollars are going.