Blinken arrives in Kyiv on unannounced visit
Lviv, Ukraine, Sep 8 (EFE).- United States secretary of state Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kyiv Thursday, where he announced a multi-billion dollar military support package for European nations.
Blinken said the US would offer a $2-billion package of aid and credit to Ukraine and 18 European partners, including NATO members, that are deemed to be potentially at risk of future Russian aggression, Ukrinform, a Ukrainian news outlet, reported.
The announcement came after US defense secretary Llyod Austin unveiled a further $675 million in military aid to Ukraine during a meeting with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in Germany.
Blinken is due to meet with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zeleneskyy, later Thursday, local media reported.
His visit to the Ukrainian capital — his second since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February — came a day after Russian leader Vladimir Putin lashed out at Western powers, claiming that sanctions on Moscow posed a threat to the entire world.
The US state department hit back at Putin on Thursday saying “sanctions and export controls are working, and President Putin is desperate to convince the world otherwise.”
“Despite President Putin’s comments at the Eastern Economic Forum, Russia is paying a heavy price for his full-scale war on Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the US department of state was quoted as saying by CNBC.
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