U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Ukraine on Wednesday. He will be meeting with senior government officials, at a critical moment for supporting the country in its fight against Russia.
The top U.S. diplomat is travelling to Ukraine alongside Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Blinken said he will use his visit to hear directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and others. He will hear Kyiv’s current goals in the war and what Washington can do to help it achieve them.
“I think it’s a critical moment for Ukraine in the midst of what is an intense fall fighting season with Russia continuing to escalate its aggression,” Blinken said in London at a news conference with Lammy.
Zelenskiy has been pleading for Western countries to supply longer-range missiles. He also wants them to lift restrictions on using the missiles to hit targets such as military airfields inside Russia.
Increasing Attacks
On the battlefield more than 2-1/2 years since the invasion, Ukrainian forces are being stretched by a better armed and more numerous foe. Ukraine is trying to fend off creeping Russian gains in the east where Moscow is focusing its attacks.
In a bid to seize back some of the initiative and divert Russian forces, Kyiv sent troops into Russia. They launched an audacious large-scale cross-border incursion last month. However, Moscow’s troops have continued to inch forward in the east.
The visit also comes a day after Blinken said Russia has received ballistic missiles from Iran and is likely to use them in Ukraine within weeks. He warned that cooperation between Moscow and Tehran threatens wider European security.
Iran-Russia Ties
The deepening military cooperation between Iran and Russia is a threat for all of Europe, Blinken said. He added that Washington had privately warned Iran that providing ballistic missiles to Russia would be “a dramatic escalation.” The U.S. issued sanctions on Iran later on Tuesday over the transfer.
Blinken declined to say whether Washington will allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons deep inside Russia. He said multiple factors went into the consideration of this decision rather than just looking at it as a weapons system.
“It’s not just the system itself that counts. You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it? Sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?,” Blinken said.
Later this month, Zelenskiy travels to the United States and will present a plan to President Joe Biden and his two potential successors in November’s election that he hopes will bring the end of the war closer.
