US Secretary of State arrives in Kyiv amid Ukraine's challenges

This is the fourth time Mr. Blinken has visited Kyiv since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, according to AFP. He is also the first senior Washington official to visit Ukraine since Kyiv began a large-scale counter-offensive in early June.

New aid package?

"We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to be successful in its counteroffensive campaign, but also what it needs over the long term to ensure that it has a strong deterrent," Reuters quoted Mr. Blinken as saying on September 6. Previously, a US State Department official said Mr. Blinken could announce a new assistance package worth more than $1 billion from Washington to Kyiv during the visit.

Quick view: Day 559 of the campaign, Russia retreated in one direction, pressed in another; Challenger 2 was shot down

Mr. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on the same day that Ukraine’s parliament approved a new defense minister, as the country’s counteroffensive entered its fourth month with only small gains. Ukraine’s push into Russian-controlled territory has been hampered by vast minefields and Moscow’s formidable defenses.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on September 6.

Officials in Washington have been cautious not to publicly criticize Kyiv’s military tactics, but opposition to aid to Ukraine is growing in the U.S. Some Republican presidential candidates have questioned the aid effort, raising concerns about whether the U.S. can continue to support Ukraine as it has in the past as the 2024 U.S. election race heats up.

Moscow's reaction

Commenting on Mr Blinken's visit, Moscow repeated accusations that Washington would fund Kyiv to fight until "there are no Ukrainians left", but that US aid would not affect Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

President Putin: Ukraine's counterattack failed, not stalled

"We have repeatedly heard statements that they (the US) intend to continue to help Kyiv as long as necessary. In other words, they will continue to support Ukraine in the state of war and pursue this war until the last Ukrainian falls, and they will spare no expense for this," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters on September 6.

Shortly before Mr. Blinken arrived in Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said Russia had launched airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital and the southern province of Odessa early on September 6, killing one civilian and damaging a port on the Danube River, according to Reuters. Ukraine’s port infrastructure in the region bordering Romania has been repeatedly attacked in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, TASS news agency quoted a spokesman for Russian forces in eastern Ukraine on September 6 as saying that they had prevented a Ukrainian reconnaissance group from attempting to cross the Mokri Yaly River in Donetsk province. Ukrainian Army Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi admitted on the same day that the situation on the eastern front remained very difficult for Kyiv.

First Challenger 2 tank destroyed in Ukraine

Danish Prime Minister also comes to Kyiv

On his train to Kyiv on September 6, Mr. Blinken held talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who also arrived in the Ukrainian capital on the same day, according to Reuters. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Mr. Blinken thanked Ms. Frederiksen for “Denmark’s leadership role in the F-16 alliance of partner nations that helps train Ukrainian pilots,” as well as for Copenhagen’s decision to donate the fighter jets to Kyiv.

Denmark and the Netherlands announced last month they would supply more than 60 US-made F-16 multirole fighters to Ukraine as soon as pilots are trained to fly the aircraft.

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