United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine, on his third visit since Russia launched its invasion. Blinken’s visit comes as Kyiv launches a counteroffensive, which has lasted nearly four months, to reclaim its territory from Moscow.
As reported Reuters And CNNWednesday (6/9/2023), Blinken arrived in the Kyiv region on Wednesday (6/9) morning local time after traveling overnight by train from Poland, neighboring Ukraine.
Similar trips were taken by nearly all the top officials who visited Kyiv during the war, including President Joe Biden, who visited in February.
Blinken’s visit will last for two days, and for the first time, the US Secretary of State will spend the night in Ukraine since the invasion launched by Russia in February 2022. It is also the first visit by a top US official to Kyiv since the backlash against Moscow began.
During his visit, according to a senior US State Department official source, Blinken will meet with high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. He will also meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other senior Kyiv officials, as well as civil society figures.
The source also stated that Blinken is likely to announce a new US aid package worth more than US$ 1 billion for Ukraine.
Media reports, citing unnamed US officials, said Ukraine’s counteroffensive was too slow and hampered by poor tactics. The criticism angered Kyiv officials and prompted Kuleba to ask critics to ‘shut up’.
Check out the full news on the next page.
