The American Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday of Washington’s continued support in the face of the Russian invasion, during a visit to Kiev intended to reassure on the subject.
Washington is by far the main supplier of military aid to Kiev, and a reduction in its support, ardently demanded by some elected Republicans, would deal a severe blow to Ukrainian efforts to liberate the occupied South and East of the country.
“The message I bring to you today, Mr. President, is that the United States is with you and will remain with you for a long time,” Lloyd Austin said during a meeting with the Ukrainian head of state.
“Together with our allies and partners, we will continue to support Ukraine’s urgent needs on the battlefield and its long-term defense requirements,” added the official, who must still see his Ukrainian counterpart during the day , Roustem Umerov, and the commander of the armed forces, Valery Zalouzhny.
Mr. Zelensky called the Pentagon chief’s visit “a very important signal.”
“We are counting on your support,” he said.
Ukraine is striving to guarantee the continuation of European and American assistance, while in the West, voices are being raised to demand a reduction in this support, after almost two years of war. In addition, with the international community focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, kyiv wants to prevent the support received so far from diminishing.
Russian assault on Avdiivka
The arrival of Mr. Austin comes at a time when in the United States, in the Republican camp, voices are being raised against the tens of billions in aid to Ukraine released by the Democratic government of Joe Biden.
Western support 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 Kiev says that Moscow also intends to resume its winter bombing campaign to plunge millions of Ukrainians into the cold and the dark.
Each day continues to bring its litany of deaths and injuries.
In Kherson, a large southern city shelled almost daily by the Russian army, the bombing of a parking lot left two people dead and two injured in the morning, according to the regional administration.
In Nikopol (southeast), an 83-year-old woman was killed and a 53-year-old man was injured by artillery fire, according to authorities.
Near Kherson, one of the important axes of the Ukrainian counter-offensive where Kiev troops managed to gain a foothold on the left bank of the Dnieper River, occupied by the Russians, the Ukrainian forces “continue to hold”, indicated in the morning the Ukrainian general staff.
In the East, it is the Russian army which 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.
No competition
For Ukraine, Western aid, particularly American, is essential to face a Russia which has turned its budget and its economy towards the war effort.
Some American legislators from the Republican camp, however, are opposed to the continuation of the aid, enough to fuel doubt as to the scale and sustainability of American support in the months to come. A new extension was thus excluded from a budget agreement adopted by Congress last week.
Despite this, a senior US defense official stressed to reporters his “belief” that ultimately “Congress will provide that support”.
Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh admitted at the beginning of the month that the United States had had to “measure” its 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 said that the fighting in the Gaza Strip had resulted in a slowdown in deliveries of 155 mm caliber artillery shells.
However, Washington 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” regarding aid to Ukraine and Israel, a senior American defense official told the press.