Blinken arrives in Ukraine to show US solidarity amid Russian attacks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in the first visit to Ukraine by a senior US official since Congress passed a long-delayed $61 billion military aid package for the country last month.

The previously undisclosed trip aims to show US solidarity with Ukraine as it struggles to fend off heavy Russian bombardment on its northeastern border.

Blinken, who arrived in Kyiv by train early on Tuesday morning, hopes to "send a strong signal of reassurance to the Ukrainians who are obviously in a very difficult moment," said a US official who briefed reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity.

"The Secretary's mission here is really to talk about how our supplemental assistance is going to be executed in a fashion to help shore up their defenses (and) enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield," the official said.

Artillery, long-range missiles known as ATACMS, and air defense interceptors approved by President Joe Biden on April 24 were already reaching the Ukrainian forces, the official said.

Blinken will reassure Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of enduring US support and deliver a speech focused on Ukraine's future, the official said.

"They (the Russians) are clearly throwing everything they have in the east," said the US official.

Economic and political reforms being undertaken by Kyiv will pave the way for the country to join the European Union and eventually NATO, the official said.

While the US-led defense alliance is not likely to admit Ukraine any time soon, individual members are reaching bilateral security agreements with Kyiv. Talks on a US-Ukraine agreement are "in the final stages" and will conclude ahead of the July NATO summit in Washington, the US official said.

Reuters