As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Ukraine on Wednesday, the Biden administration will provide an additional $200 million military assistance to Kyiv to help boost its defensive capabilities in preparation for a possible Russian invasion.
Reports say the assistance was approved in December as part of the US commitment to help Ukraine protect its "sovereignty and territorial integrity." However, US officials did not disclose details of the military assistance in public before the scheduled meeting of Blinkin with top Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.
The Associated Press reported that one US official, who requested anonymity, said that the United States "will continue to provide Ukraine the support it needs. However, it had not provided more information on the US military aid package to Ukraine.
The announcement was made as Blinken hastily scheduled a visit to Ukraine to boost warnings as the White House said on Tuesday that Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine.
Blinken said that the US is aware of the plans of Moscow to further increase its military force in the area "on very short notice" which gives Russian President Vladimir Putin the capability "to take further aggressive action against Ukraine" in a short period.
The US Secretary of State is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials, to be followed by a short trip to Berlin for talks with European allies on Thursday. Then Blinken will meet with his Russian counterpart in Geneva on Friday to examine if Russia is willing to resolve the crisis diplomatically.
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The US Steps Up The Pressure On Russia
According to a CNN report, the military aid is part of the Biden administration's effort to increase the costs for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he proceeds to invade Ukraine, after last week's diplomatic negotiations with Russian officials that generated no remarkable progress. Moscow has also continued to increase its military force at its territory near the Ukraine border in the past few days.
A senior US official said that the US is also considering opportunities to strengthen Ukrainian soldiers' capacity to withstand a possible military takeover by Russia. That includes providing the Ukrainian Army with more ammunition, Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-craft missile systems, mortars. Such supply and equipment would possibly come from NATO allies.
In comments to U.S. Embassy staff in Kyiv, Blinken went further by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin has plans to significantly enhance Moscow's military presence near Ukraine's border, which now numbers roughly 100,000 troops.
Sending of US Troops to Ukraine is Not An Option
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that the situation is now at "a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine" and Blinken intends to "highlight very clearly" that there is a diplomatic way to resolve the conflict between the two countries.
However, US President Joe Biden has stated before that sending US combat forces to Ukraine to fend off Russia is not an option.
Last week, Washington has accused Moscow of plotting a "false-flag" operation that will allow Russia to accuse Ukraine of preparing an assault. Russia has refuted such allegations by the United States, as per BBC.
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