Ukrainian forces are making “clear and real progress” on the battlefield against Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said after announcing fresh military aid on a visit to Kyiv.
“It’s very early, but we are seeing clear and real progress on the ground, particularly in the area around Kherson, but also some interesting developments in the Donbas in the east,” the top US diplomat told reporters.
Blinken, who met for two hours with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, said that he saw a “real effectiveness” in the counter-offensive launched by Ukraine.
“We are proud of the fact that our support and the support of so many other countries is helping to enable what the Ukrainians are doing – working to liberate territory seized by Russia in this aggression,” Blinken said.
Ukraine has struck over 400 Russian targets with US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems, General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said.
“We are seeing real and measurable gains from Ukraine in the use of these systems. For example, the Ukrainians have struck over 400 targets with the HIMARS and they’ve had devastating effect,” he told reporters at Ramstein air base in southern Germany after a meeting of US-allied ministers to discuss how to give Kyiv long-term support in countering Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian military said Thursday it had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in the north-eastern Kharkiv region as part of a counter-offensive against Moscow’s forces.
Ukrainian “military units have penetrated 50 kilometres (31 miles) beyond the enemy lines. During active operations in the Kharkiv area, more than 20 settlements have been liberated”, said Oleksiy Gromov, a senior official in the Ukrainian armed forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced major new military aid worth more than $2 billion for Ukraine and other European countries threatened by Russia.
Blinken said the Biden administration would provide $2 billion in long-term military assistance to Ukraine and 18 of its neighbours, including NATO members and regional security partners “most potentially at risk for future Russian aggression”.
That’s on top of a $675 million package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armoured vehicles for Ukraine alone that Defence Secretary Llloyd Austin announced earlier Thursday at a conference of allied defence ministers in Germany.
The contributions bring total US aid to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since the administration took office. Officials said the new commitments were intended to show that American support for the country in the face of Russia’s invasion is unwavering.
