Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterates support for Ukraine in the Kyiv visit.
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KYIV—The top diplomats of the US and UKK said Wednesday they're firmly committed to Ukraine's victory and will adapt their support to the country's needs in a war that has already lasted 30 months.
"The bottom line is this: We want Ukraine to win," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a joint visit to Kyiv's Ukrainian capital with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
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"From day one, we have adjusted and adapted," Blinken told reporters after meeting with top Ukrainian officials, including Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and newly appointed foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
"Needs have changed as the battlefield has changed, and I do not doubt we will continue to do this."
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He was referencing Ukraine's push to use long-range missiles supplied by the US. On military targets inside Russia. Missiles like ATACMs, which thUSS. I was sent to Ukraine last year and can travel 190 miles.
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Ukrainian troops want to strike weapon stockpiles, logistical centres and airfields to stop Russian forces from advancing on the battlefield and attacking Ukrainian cities nearly every day.
One Russian strike last week on a military academy in central Ukraine killed at least 58 people and injured almost 300.
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ThUSS. has resisted lifting restrictions, saying such strikes would aggravate Russia, which has a vast arsenal and nuclear weapons.
The tone shifted, however, during the visit by Blinken and Lammy, who noted that Russia is now aggravating matters by acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran to use on Ukraine.
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"If anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Russia," Blinken said.
Lammy added that he and Blinken had "detailed conversations with President Zelenskyy" on using long-range weapons supplied by the UK, the US, and the EU.
"I am not prepared to give Putin the advantage," Lammy said.
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President Biden meets with UKh U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday. Zelenskyy says he plans to meet with Biden later this month.
In the past, the Ukrainian president and his team have successfully lobbied the White House for more and better weapons after Washington initially resisted.
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Earlier on Wednesday, reporters asked Zelenskyy about prospects for another policy change.
"Am I optimistic about their decision to allow us to use long-range weapons? I wish it didn't depend on my optimism," he said. "It depends on their optimism."
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Zelenskyy said he plans to discuss the issue with President Biden later this month. His administration is quickly securing as much support as possible before the presidential election.
At Tuesday's US presidential debate, which Zelenskyy said he didn't watch, Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Ukraine.
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Still, former president Donald Trump refused to answer when asked if he wanted Ukraine to win. "I want the war to stop," he said, without elaborating on how he would make that happen.
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Blinken and Lammy both announced new aid packages for Ukraine on Wednesday. The US will give Ukraine $700 million in humanitarian and energy assistance, while the UK will allocate nearly $800 million in financial support and military equipment supplies.
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The aid and today's visit were crucial during the war. Ukraine continues to lose territory to Russia in the east even after Ukraine's surprise invasion of the Russian region of Kursk last month.
Zelenskyy wants to reclaim all Ukrainian land, including the peninsula of Crimea, which Russia occupied and illegally annexed in 2014.
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"Crimea is not just a territory; it is part of our soul," Zelenskyy said on Wednesday at the unveiling of a monument to the nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars who died after the Soviets forced them out of their homes in 1944.
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At Kyiv's Institute for International Relations, students aiming to become Ukraine's future diplomats debate how their country can manage in the shifting sands of modern geopolitics. Some worry about pro-Russian countries banding together, others about tU.S.utcoUSf the US election.
Vladyslav Payuk, 19, says he wants Ukraine's allies to understand how Ukrainians feel when Russia bombs their cities.
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"Why can't we bomb (Russian) strategic facilities," he says, speaking about the restriction on long-range weapons. "Why can't we shoot them back? Every day in every city of Ukraine, families are killed."
Volodymyr Ohryzko, a geopolitical analyst and former Ukrainian foreign minister, says Ukraine's Western allies believe Russia can be reasoned with.
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"This is a mistake," he told NPR. "They believe in fairy tales they invented themselves."
He also cast doubt that Russia would participate in a Ukraine-initiated peace summit because he says the Kremlin's goals for this war are clear: "Russia insists that we capitulate, and Ukraine does not accept capitulation."
He added that the US has not yet resolved how to manage Russia in the long term, and this won’t happen until after the US presidential election.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterates support for Ukraine in the Kyiv visit.
Putin draws new red line on long-range missiles
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrlr87e5elo
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2024.9.14 [Urgent] Biden-Harris is about to start World War III with Russia
- This week, on 9/11, Blinken visited Kyiv with the British Foreign Secretary. 9/13 British Prime Minister Starmer visits the White House. It appears that the US and UK have agreed to give the Zelensky regime permission to attack the heart of Russia using long-range missiles delivered to Ukraine.
- Independent political analyst Gilbert Doctorow said, "I don't know how long it will take to start a nuclear war. But we are only days, or at most weeks, away from a Third World War that will be fought, at least initially, with conventional weapons."
- In response to this situation, Putin said yesterday, "If NATO attacks Russia, NATO will officially be at war with Russia. We will adjust according to the level of the threat of an attack from Ukraine."
https://x.com/oikawa_yukihisa/status/1834958718888464423
