Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks on the Israel-Palestine situation
Ukraine, Blinken surprises Kiev, “help is arriving”
Surprise visit by the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, to Kiev as the major Russian offensive continues to press on in north-eastern Ukraine. US military aid to Ukraine is “on the way,” US Secretary of State told President Volodymyr Zelensky and “will make a real difference against Russian aggression on the battlefield.” The US secretary of state, on his fourth visit to Kiev since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, arrived on a night train from Poland to the Ukrainian capital. His visit, which had not been announced, comes just weeks after the US Congress voted on a massive $61 billion aid package that was stalled for months by domestic political issues in the United States. Since then, the United States has allocated about $1.4 billion in military aid, mainly Patriot and NASAMS anti-aircraft systems that Ukraine needs to confront the Russians, as well as artillery ammunition. “The first purpose of this trip is to send a strong signal to reassure the Ukrainians who find themselves in a very difficult situation, both because of the intensification of fighting on the Eastern Front, and because the Russians are now extending their cross-border attacks in Kharkiv,” a senior American official told reporters aboard the train carrying the secretary of state.
Russia launched a surprise offensive last Friday against Ukraine’s second largest city in the north-east of the country, where, by the admission of the Ukrainian General Staff, it achieved “tactical successes”.
Ukrainian national security chief Oleksandr Lytvynenko said in an interview with AFP that “more than 30,000” Russian soldiers are attacking the Kharkiv region but that for the moment no “threat” looms over the city, which is located about thirty kilometers from the fighting zone and which before the Russian invasion had almost one and a half million inhabitants. In Russia, the Ministry of Defense announced that 25 Ukrainian RM-70 Vampire rockets were intercepted by air defense in the Belgorod region, but the media reported the derailment of a freight train caused by “unauthorized persons”, a sweetened way to indicate the action of saboteurs, in the Volgograd region. Although there are no details on the incident, Moscow has already accused Kiev of attacking a convoy at the Kotluban railway station. “During the night, unknown persons derailed a freight train,” a local official wrote on Telegram. Kotublan station has a branch leading to the arsenal of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian Defense.
Ukraine: Zelensky asks Blinken for more Patriots
Volodymyr Zelensky has asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington send two more Patriot missile systems to defend Kharkiv and the rest of the north-eastern region under Russian attack. During a meeting with Blinken in Kiev, Zelensky said Ukraine has its “biggest deficit” in anti-aircraft systems. “I think it’s the biggest problem,” added the Ukrainian head of state, quoted by the national news agency Ukrinform. The Ukrainian president also stressed the need to receive more missiles from the United States. “It is critical for us that it arrives as quickly as possible,” he said on the occasion of the surprise visit of the secretary of state. Blinken confirmed that part of the military aid approved by the United States last month has already arrived in Ukraine , while another part of that material is “on the way.” And he said he is convinced that this new aid “will have an effect” on the battlefield, where he acknowledged that the Ukrainians are going through “difficult times”. The US state added that Washington will do everything it can to help Ukraine, together with the rest of its partners, overcome the “critical” challenges it will face in the coming months. During Blinken’s visit the two will also discuss the bilateral agreement on security between Ukraine and the United States and Zelensky also asked to help Ukraine attract as many countries as possible to the so-called Peace Summit to be held in mid-June in Switzerland.
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