Blinken will use his trip to “send a strong signal of reassurance” to Kyiv about enduring U.S. support and to highlight how American aid will help the Ukrainians “take back the initiative on the battlefield,” a U.S. official briefed reporters, Reuters and AP reported.
He will meet with Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
His visit comes one day after U.K. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey made a surprise trip of their own to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and reiterate British support.
Ukraine has repeatedly warned the war is entering a critical phase, and Kharkiv’s governor blamed Russia’s latest successes on a delay in Western weapons and ammunition reaching the frontlines. Russia now controls about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory, after Kyiv’s 2023 counteroffensive failed to dislodge Moscow’s forces.
But Ukraine has remained defiant, vowing to stop Russia’s latest push in its tracks. “We are adding more forces to Kharkiv,” Zelenskyy said in an address on Friday. “We will invariably destroy the occupier in a way that will disrupt any Russian offensive intentions.”
