Saturday saw the meeting between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Secretary of Defense) and Anthony Blinken (Secretary of State), with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was the first senior-level delegation from the US to visit Ukraine since Putin’s War started on February 24.
The meeting lacked the flair we’ve seen with Boris Johnson strolling with Zelensky across a Kiev plaza (Boris Johnson Pays Surprise Visit to Kiev and Volodymyr Zelensky as the World Wonders Where Is Joe Biden) or the trip by the presidents of Poland and the Baltic States (Four EU and NATO Presidents Visit Kiev to Discuss Security, Weapons, and War Crimes) to the scene of Russian atrocities in Bucha (Russian Torture Chamber Discovered in Liberated Ukraine Town as the Russian Army Continues to Do What It Is Good at Doing). It made up for it in substance, even if it was lacking in charisma.
Austin indicated that the US would expand its military training to Ukraine using newly-procured weapons systems.
Blinken and Austin spent the entire visit in Ukraine’s presidential palace and did not tour Kyiv’s streets, a pretty stark contrast with visits from European leaders
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) April 25, 2022
Split-screen:
Blinken and Austin in Ukraine yesterday / Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv on April 11 pic.twitter.com/Fh9pWKOjWf
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) April 25, 2022
The U.S. will return an embassy presence to Ukraine and increase military support for the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in Kyiv, as Russia’s war shifts gears in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Russia is failing, Ukraine is succeeding,” Mr. Blinken said, asserting that Ukraine will persist as a sovereign country despite Russia’s attempts to overrun it. Two secretaries from Ukraine spoke with reporters Monday morning after returning by train to Kyiv.
“We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support,” Mr. Austin said, adding of Mr. Zelensky: “While he’s grateful for all the things we’re doing, he’s also focused on what he thinks he’ll need next in order to be successful.” Besides artillery, Ukraine has expressed an interest in getting more tanks, he said.
…
U.S. diplomats departed earlier this year and will now return to Ukraine. The initial trip to Lviv, in western Ukraine, is a day-trip. In the future, the U.S. embassy in Kyiv should be operational again, according to a State Department official. According to a State Department official, Monday will be the day that President Biden nominates Bridget Brink (current U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia) as next ambassador to Ukraine.
The U.S. will also provide $322 million to Ukraine for foreign military assistance. It is part of a $713 million package that includes U.S. military aid to more than 12 countries within the region. This new financing follows two prior military aid packages totaling $800 million for Ukraine. These included armored personnel carriers, heavy artillery and helicopters.
Trump has appointed a career foreign services officer to the role of ambassador to Slovakia. This indicates the White House is trying to make support for Ukraine a bipartisan and don’t want a confirmation fight. On a voice vote, Ambassador Brink was elected. Austin and Blinken arrived in time to deliver the first batch of artillery. 18 M-777s were towed with 155mm howitzers, 40,000 rounds and 12 M-777s (the M-777’s barrel life is 2,650 rounds). In addition, they brought $165million to secure ammunition for Russian weaponry and announced that the US would deliver material in Ukraine within 48 hours.
JUST IN: State Dept provides details on the $165 million sale of non-standard Russian origin ammo to Ukraine in the wake of Blinken and Austin’s visit to Kyiv.
Ukraine has made several requests for automatic grenade rocket ammo and GRAD rockets. They also requested rounds for MLRS, grenades and mortars. pic.twitter.com/DkeD8icFz7
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) April 25, 2022
Austin cut to the chase other than financial and material aid, “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree it cannot do the kind things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” This reiterates statements previously made by the DOD spokesman John Kirby and other NATO figures (see NATO Strategy Shifts From Ukraine Must Be Defended to Russia Must Lose).
The visit was overall positive. This was an opportunity for allies to meet and discuss business issues, not terrorist attacks in combat zones. It also spelled out what the US wants to get out of our support for Ukraine; we want Russia to lose to deter Putin’s imperial ambitions in a highly visible and painful way.
However, this is Joey SotfServe’s White House, so no attempt at coherence can overcome the radical incompetence that surrounds our Dementia Popsicle. This is a quintessentially “Leeeeeeroy Jenkins” moment by Joe Biden.
Pres. Biden tells reporters that he hasn’t yet spoken to State Sec. Blinken and Defense Sec. Austin since they traveled to Ukraine, but says the trip “went good.” https://t.co/NP7qMo06R7 pic.twitter.com/Ioasu0xvIt
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 25, 2022
No matter how you slice it, this is terrifying. Either Biden talked to Austin and Blinken, and he’s forgotten about it, or his foreign and defense policy chiefs had a major meeting about the most significant defense and foreign policy issue facing the Biden White House, and he hasn’t bothered to talk to them.
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