President Zelensky meets face-to-face with Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin
April 25, 2022, 9:05 am

President Zelensky meets face-to-face with Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Official Facebook page)

The Euronews reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the US secretaries of state and defence on Sunday night in what was the highest-level visit to the country’s capital by an American delegation since the start of the war.

According to the report, Zelenskyy’s last face-to-face meeting with a top US official was on 19 February in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris, five days before Russia’s invasion.

The secretive meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin came as Ukraine pressed the West for more powerful weapons and as Russia continued its campaign in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow’s forces are seeking to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol.

Blinken and Austin told Zelenskyy and his advisers that the United States would provide more than $300 million in foreign military financing and had approved a $165 million sale of ammunition.

Russian troops destroyed the village of Kyiv Oblast (Photo: Euromaidan press via Vladimir Vetrogradskiy)

They also said that President Joe Biden would soon announce his nominee for ambassador to Ukraine, and that American diplomats who left Ukraine before the war would start returning to the country this week.

Reporters who accompanied Austin and Blinken to Poland were barred from reporting the Kyiv visit until the two men physically left Ukraine, with American officials citing security concerns.

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Before the meeting, Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in arms and security guarantees.

He said: “You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons."

While the West has funnelled military equipment to Ukraine, Zelenskyy has stressed repeatedly that his country needs more heavy weapons, including long-range air defence systems and planes.

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The meeting took place as Ukrainians and Russians observed Orthodox Easter. Speaking from Kyiv’s ancient St Sophia Cathedral earlier in the day, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, highlighted its significance to a nation wracked by nearly two months of war.

He said: “The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win!"

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The report noted that the Russian military reported hitting 423 Ukrainian targets overnight, including fortified positions and troop concentrations, while its planes destroyed 26 Ukrainian military sites, including an explosives factory and several artillery depots.

Source: euronews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.