United States diplomats will begin a gradual withdrawal to Ukraine this week, Washington’s secretary of state and defense chief said on Monday, as he announced $700 million in military aid during his first war-time visit to Kyiv .
The visits of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – which were confirmed only after the United States both left Ukrainian territory – as the invasion enters its third month, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced.
Presidential adviser Oleksey Erestovich said Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky met with US officials on Sunday because the port city of Mariupol was “on the verge of collapse” and Kyiv was in dire need of offensive weapons.
Washington ordered the withdrawal of its diplomats in the weeks before Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, but has been a major donor of financial aid and weapons to the country, and a major sponsor of sanctions targeting Moscow. .
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“Since the start of the hostilities, we have a team across the border in Poland handling this job for us,” the official told reporters waiting for Blinken and Austin on the Polish side of the border.
“From this week, members of that team will be able to take day trips to Ukraine,” he said.
“Eventually, (they will) resume their presence in Kyiv.”
The traveling envoys also pledged another $700 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some $300 million to allow the country to purchase necessary weapons.
The rest of the money will go to Ukraine’s regional allies, who need to resupply after sending weapons to their neighbours.
The United States has sent military aid worth nearly $4 billion since Biden’s term began last year, and already on Thursday another $800 million to bolster Ukraine in its fight against Russian troops in the country’s east. New aid package announced.
But for fear of entering a conflict against nuclear-armed Russia, the military has been reluctant to intervene, and officials on Monday brushed off claims that the visit represented a major escalation of US involvement in Ukraine.
“The visit does not reflect the actual involvement of US forces,” a senior defense official said.
“The President is very clear that there will be no American troops fighting in Ukraine, and that includes the skies over Ukraine.”
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sombre easter
The highly sensitive visit by two of President Joe Biden’s top cabinet members coincided with Easter celebrations in the largely conservative country.
As the Ukrainians marked a gloomy Easter, Russian forces showed no sign of easing attacks, with many valiant bombings for blessings.
Five civilians were killed and five others were injured in Donetsk on Sunday, Eastern Region Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said. Authorities also reported one death in northeast Kharkiv.
A day earlier, a missile attack on the southern city of Odessa killed eight people and injured at least 18, according to Zelensky, who said five missiles hit the city.
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Russia’s defense ministry said it had targeted a major foreign weapons depot near Odessa.
Zelensky accused Russia of being a terrorist state, having ravaged the port city of Mariupol with weeks of relentless bombings.
And with thousands of its fighters and civilians facing increasingly dire conditions in Mariupol, Kyiv said on Sunday that it had invited Moscow for talks near the giant Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian troops are still out.
“We invited the Russians for a special round of talks on the spot, right next to the Azovstal walls,” said Erestovich, the last Ukrainian stronghold in the strategic port.
There was no immediate reaction from Russia. Its president Vladimir Putin ordered his forces not to attack the plant, but Ukrainians say the attacks are continuing unabated.
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‘very difficult’
Mariupol, which the Kremlin claims to be “liberated”, is crucial to Russia’s war plans to build a land bridge across occupied Crimea—and possibly beyond that, to Moldova.
On Sunday, the UN’s Ukraine crisis coordinator Amin Awad called for an “immediate stop” for fighting in the city to allow civilians stranded in the city to be released.
“Thousands of lives are at stake in Mariupol, including women, children and the elderly,” Awad said in a statement.
“We need to stop fighting now to save lives.”
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In a message posted on social media on Sunday, Svyatoslav Palmar – deputy commander of the far-right Azov regiment that is sheltering in a battle of tunnels under the steel plant – said that Russian forces continued to fire at Azovstal. kept.
“The enemy continues airstrikes, artillery from the sea … enemy tanks continue to attack and infantry is trying to storm,” Palmar said.
Ukrainian commander Sergei Volina described the situation at the complex as “very difficult” and called on the international community to help the remaining survivors.
“We will not have time to wait for a military solution to the situation, the situation is very serious. Very hot. I do not know how much time we have,” he said in an interview.