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Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pictured in Washington, D.C., on Friday, traveled to Ukraine and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday.
Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP through Getty Pictures
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Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP through Getty Pictures
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pictured in Washington, D.C., on Friday, traveled to Ukraine and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday.
Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP through Getty Pictures
POLAND — The U.S. promised to steadily re-establish its diplomatic presence in Ukraine in a brand new sign of Western help because the struggle reached its 2-month mark on Sunday.
Information of the diplomatic pledge emerged after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin in Kyiv, as Zelenskyy urged the world to ship extra weapons and help to assist his besieged nation combat again in opposition to Russian invaders.
It is the primary time prime U.S. officers have traveled to Ukraine since Russian forces started their invasion on Feb. 24.
After the U.S. embassy in Ukraine relocated its workers from Kyiv to Poland earlier than the beginning of the struggle, American diplomats will now start a gradual return to the nation — beginning with day journeys to Lviv in western Ukraine, adopted by different cities, with a longer-term plan to ultimately come again to the Ukrainian capital.
The U.S., which has taken a extra cautious method in its return, follows strikes by the U.Okay. and different European nations to reopen their embassies in Kyiv.
Blinken additionally knowledgeable the Ukrainians that President Biden will identify Bridget Brink to be ambassador to Ukraine. She’s a profession diplomat who’s presently the ambassador to Slovakia. There has not been an official ambassador to Ukraine since 2019, when former President Donald Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch.
Talking on Sunday in Poland, U.S. officers additionally gave an replace on the army support being despatched to Ukraine.
Protection Division spokesman John Kirby mentioned the U.S. is taking cues from Ukrainian leaders because it assesses the nation’s artillery wants. To assist with the fight in the eastern region often known as the Donbas, the U.S. is sending howitzers — long-range weapons which are higher fitted to the world’s flat terrain.
The U.S. says it is also coaching Ukrainians on easy methods to use the weapons and giving $300 million extra in international army financing in order that Ukraine has extra flexibility and can purchase what it wants from different nations.
The brand new support provides to the $800 million President Biden recently approved to assist the Ukrainian effort within the Donbas. The Pentagon says it is dedicated at the least $3.7 billion to Ukraine for the reason that begin of the struggle.
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