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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kiev by surprise on September 6 to show support for the Ukrainian counteroffensive amid the conflict with Russia and said that Washington wants to ensure that its ally has a “strong deterrent.” During statements from the Ukrainian capital, he promised Ukraine that the US would continue providing support. However, this is unlikely considering the North American country goes to the voting booths in 14 months, and US financing of Ukraine is becoming a hot topic.
Blinken is the first senior US official to visit the Ukrainian capital since the counteroffensive began in early June. He met with Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs it for the long term to make sure that it has a strong deterrent, strong defence capacity so that, in the future, aggressions like this don’t happen again,” Blinken said alongside Kuleba.
During his visit, the top US diplomat also announced over $1 billion of new assistance to Ukraine, claiming it would help Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia to “build further momentum.”
“Today, we’re announcing new assistance totalling more than $1 billion in this common effort,” Blinken said. “That includes $665.5 million in new military and civilian security assistance.”
The $1 billion package announced might sound like a massive amount, but it must be remembered that Washington has already provided Ukraine with over $40 billion of security assistance, including weapons that Kiev says are vital in countering Russian forces. This has failed to push back Russian forces.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June after building Western-trained assault battalions and stockpiling weapons but has been endlessly requesting more assistance the longer the failed counteroffensive goes on.
More bizarrely, though, Kuleba, for his part, said, “Today, thanks to our partners, Ukraine is restraining Russia’s aggression. And we are not putting any American lives at risk.”
This is an illuminating statement since Kuleba effectively boasts that Ukraine is doing Washington’s bidding by refusing to seek a resolution with Russia and continuing the war. The statement is even more tragic when considering over 66,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been neutralised or wounded since the start of the counteroffensive.
Moscow spoke out about the visit of the head of the top American diplomat, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned how “the United States plans to continue supporting Kiev in a state of war until the last Ukrainian, regardless of the cost.”
“We have repeatedly heard statements that they [the Americans] intend to continue to help Kiev as much as necessary. In other words, they will continue to support Ukraine in a de facto state of war and wage this war to the last Ukrainian, sparing no money for this,” Peskov told reporters, adding that this assistance will not affect the military operation.
The question must also be asked how the US can continue supporting Ukraine when the war has become a financial black hole. It is recalled that former Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told a local media outlet that the war costs Ukraine at least $100 million a day.
On the same day as Blinken’s visit to Kiev, the US Department of Defense announced a new package of additional security assistance worth $175 million to address Ukraine’s critical security and defence needs. The new package includes additional air defence equipment, artillery munitions, anti-tank weapons with depleted uranium shells for previously committed Abrams tanks, and other equipment.
Although the US has provided over $40 billion in security assistance, the total amount of aid, including humanitarian and financial support, surpasses $75 billion. With Ukraine costing $100 million a day, there is huge doubt that the US will be able to support such an expensive war, especially as Ukraine has no hope of winning, given its shortage of manpower and equipment.
Nonetheless, the US will continue to work with its Western allies in the short term to provide Ukraine with the equipment and weapons necessary to extend the conflict instead of joining forces to seek a ceasefire and renegotiate peace on the European continent immediately. With Donald Trump’s popularity surging and Joe Biden’s declining, Ukraine will surely be a major topic. It will inevitably lead to a decline in support for Ukraine as Americans no longer want their tax money wasted, meaning Blinken cannot keep his promise.
false article from the start because biden has already visited ukraine. american president joe biden visited ukraine, in kyiv on monday february 20, alongside volodymyr zelensky. a trip which took place a few days before the anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine a year ago, february 24.
btw here is impressive vid eo of ruski mobiks searching for their own detachment, but running into the wrong direction, and while thinking to have found their “own” in fact moving directly into the hands of the ukros. vid eo shows also the few survivors of this dramtic encounter. see: http://rlu.ru/3wnam
and here another great one ! in fact best vid ever. disoriented ruski soldiers running into own minefields kaboom, hahaha ! see: http://rlu.ru/3wndv
say, you are a drag queen, right? you have such alias, you write like one and you act like one. at what drag club in kiev do you perform? i’ve heard zaluzhny is regular guest. do you wear nun outfit?
it’s a bit late coming to show support for the counter offinsive it failed 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺
the support team biden offered (military, moral) is already in place so is public media cover for a visit to deliver and plan for bad news from usa to its kiev gov. team biden-nuland is coming for 2 days to deliver and plan for bad news. might be support is winding down and need to negotiate, might be a big false flag or big attack to escalate the war more to draw in nato europe. but it is clear team biden-nuland have come to deliver bad news, not just another weapons package.