(Kyiv) American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on Monday for a surprise visit intended to reassure Ukraine of the sustainability of American support in the face of the Russian invasion.
The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid since this war began in February 2022, and has repeatedly pledged to support Kyiv for as long as necessary, but that promise is being undermined by the opposition growing number of certain Republican elected officials.
Mr. Austin is in Kyiv to “reinforce the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom,” the Pentagon said in a statement about the visit, which had not been announced at the time. advance for security reasons.
According to the same source, the official will emphasize “the United States’ continued commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression.”
He is scheduled to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, Defense Minister Roustem Umerov and Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny.
The trip to Kyiv – by train from Poland – is the Pentagon chief’s second since Russia launched its invasion.
Washington is by far the largest provider of military aid to Kyiv, and a reduction in U.S. aid would deal a major blow to Ukraine and its efforts to liberate the country’s occupied south and east.
Russian assault on Avdiivka
While in the Republican camp voices are raised against the tens of billions in aid to Ukraine released by the Democratic administration of Joe Biden, Mr. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged, during A hearing in October urged lawmakers to maintain their support for Kyiv, with the U.S. defense chief declaring that “without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will succeed.”
The aid is all the more crucial for Ukraine as its summer counter-offensive to liberate the occupied territories has largely failed.
Russia went on the offensive again in the east in October, and Kyiv says that Moscow also intends to resume its winter bombing campaign to plunge millions of Ukrainians into the cold and the dark.
On the ground, the situation remains tense on Monday. In Kherson, a large southern city shelled almost daily by the Russian army, the bombing of a parking lot left two dead and two injured in the morning, the regional administration said.
Near Kherson, one of the important axes of the Ukrainian counter-offensive where Kyiv troops managed to gain a foothold on the left bank of the Dnieper River, occupied by the Russians, Ukrainian forces “continue to hold their positions”, indicated in the morning the Ukrainian general staff.
In the east, the Russian army is continuing “its attempts to encircle Avdiïvka”, an industrial city in the Donetsk region targeted in recent weeks by intense attacks, according to the same source.
“Overlaps”
For Ukraine, which does not have a self-sufficient arms industry, Western aid, American in particular, is crucial, Russia having turned its budget and its economy towards the war effort.
But some Republican legislators are opposed to the continuation of the aid, and are hammering it, enough to fuel doubt as to the scale and sustainability of American support in the months to come. Thus, a new extension to Ukraine was excluded from a budget agreement adopted by Congress last week.
Despite this, a senior US defense official insisted to journalists of his “belief” that “Congress will provide that support” in the end.
Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh nevertheless said earlier this month that aid programs “have been reduced because we have had to balance our support for Ukraine.”
In addition to internal political opposition in the United States to continued aid, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is distracting attention from Ukraine.
Receiving a group of media, including AFP, on Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that the fighting in the Gaza Strip had resulted in a slowdown in deliveries of 155 mm caliber artillery shells, crucial for his army.
However, the United States claims to be able to provide assistance to the Ukrainians and Israelis.
“The question does not arise as to whether there is competition or compromise to be made when it comes to US support” for Ukraine and Israel, said the senior US defense official.
“There are overlaps, but when there is overlap for certain munitions […] we are not reducing the supply of resources to Ukraine,” added the official.