{"id":27223,"date":"2024-05-15T02:43:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T07:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27223"},"modified":"2024-05-15T02:43:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T07:43:13","slug":"blinken-makes-unannounced-diplomatic-trip-to-ukraine-after-congress-approves-60b-in-military-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27223","title":{"rendered":"Blinken makes unannounced diplomatic trip to Ukraine after Congress approves $60B in military aid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday marks Blinken\u2019s fourth trip to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2002<\/u><\/a>visited Ukraine on Tuesday on an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure the country amid its war with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After arriving in Kyiv, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and “highlight the United States\u2019 enduring support for Ukraine,” the U.S. State Department said. In the Ukrainian capital, he will also underscore the Biden administration\u2019s commitment to Ukraine\u2019s defense and assure Ukraine that it has America\u2019s support against increasingly intense Russian attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement released after Blinken’s arrival, the State Department said he would meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,<\/u><\/a> Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to “discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new U.S. security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine\u2019s economic recovery.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He will emphasize America\u2019s commitment to Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy in the face of Russia\u2019s ongoing aggression,” the statement added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blinken\u2019s visit comes less than a month after Congress approved a long-delayed foreign assistance package that sets aside $60 billion in aid for Ukraine.<\/u><\/a> Most of the aid will go toward replenishing badly depleted artillery and air defense systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday marks Blinken\u2019s fourth trip to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Despite his frequency to the region, Kyiv and Moscow are no closer to ending their fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unannounced visit comes after a White House briefing Monday, where national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the new aid package was “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of U.S. weapon shipments to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What I am going to suggest is that the level of intensity being exhibited right now in terms of moving stuff is at a 10 out of 10,” Sullivan told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden signed the aid package late last month and the administration has already announced $1.4 billion in short-term military assistance<\/u><\/a> and $6 billion in longer-term support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blinken\u2019s last trip to Kyiv was in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

foxnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday marks Blinken\u2019s fourth trip to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2002visited Ukraine on Tuesday on an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure the country amid its war with Russia. After arriving in Kyiv, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and “highlight the United States\u2019 enduring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1153],"tags":[1761,1232,1156,28394,1416,10442],"class_list":["post-27223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military","tag-aid","tag-congress","tag-military","tag-secret-diplomacy","tag-ukraine","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27225,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27223\/revisions\/27225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}