Sec. Blinken and Sec. Austin travel to Ukraine for an extraordinary wartime meeting with President Zelenskyy.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin slipped into Ukraine on Sunday for an, bringing new promises of military and diplomatic support and defying grave concerns about whether it was safe to make the journey.
The pair arrived on separate planes for a visit shrouded in secrecy. The U.S. government declined to confirm it happened until it was over and Blinken and Austin were safely out of the country — even after Zelenskyy announced the day before that they’d be coming. His revelation during a Saturday news conference had caught Washington off-guard, prompting a last-minute scramble to determine whether it was still safe for them to go, U.S. officials said.
Blinken came bearing news that the Biden administration will finally nominate an ambassador to Ukraine: Bridget Brink, currently the U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, who for weeks has been widely reported to be President Joe Biden’s likely pick. Ultimately, the U.S. intends to return at least some diplomats to the Ukrainian capital following a move by the United Kingdom last week to reopen its embassy there. The decision signals newfound U.S. confidence that Kyiv is now at least moderately safe after Russia withdrew its troops from the city earlier this month, following its failed attempt to capture it.
Zelenskyy also heard from Austin, who told him that some of the howitzer artillery systems the Biden administration recently announced it would provide have now arrived, as Ukraine prepares for a potentially massive land battle in the east. A senior defense official said seven more howitzer packages are being readied to be sent to Ukraine imminently, along with armored vehicles to tow them.
Yet, despite the war zone visit and stepped-up U.S. military assistance, Biden’s insistence that U.S. troops won’t be sent to fight in Ukraine or impose a no-fly zone has not softened, officials traveling with Austin said.
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