US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Minister David Lammy made their way to Kyiv on Wednesday for a series of meetings with top Ukrainian government officials. This visit comes at a crucial moment in the war against Russia, as Ukraine faces intense fighting and seeks to secure advanced weaponry.
Blinken emphasized the importance of understanding Ukraine’s goals in the war and how the US can best support their efforts. “I think it’s a critical moment for Ukraine in the midst of what is an intense fall fighting season with Russia continuing to escalate its aggression,” Blinken stated at a joint press conference with Lammy in London the previous day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging Western countries to provide longer-range missiles and to lift restrictions on their use against targets deep within Russia. While US officials have expressed concerns about such a move due to the risk of escalating tensions with Russia, President Joe Biden hinted at a possible compromise. Biden stated that his administration was “working that out now” when asked about lifting restrictions on the use of long-range weapons.
The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, issued a stark warning, asserting that if the US and its allies allowed Ukraine to deploy long-range weapons, they would be considered parties to the conflict. Blinken declined to definitively say whether Washington would permit the use of long-range weapons in Russia, but he highlighted that this decision involved multiple considerations beyond simply the weapons system itself.
“It’s not just the system itself that counts. You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?” Blinken explained.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are facing increasing pressure from a better-equipped and larger Russian military, particularly in the east. In an attempt to regain the initiative, Ukraine launched a bold cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last month.
Blinken’s visit follows his recent statement that Russia has received ballistic missiles from Iran and is likely to deploy them in Ukraine within weeks. This cooperation between Moscow and Tehran poses a significant threat to European security, Blinken warned. The US has privately cautioned Iran that providing ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a dangerous escalation. In response to the missile transfer, the US imposed new sanctions on Iran on Tuesday.
The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has tragically resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and displaced millions of Ukrainians. Cities and villages have been left in ruins. Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, while Ukraine has retaliated with long-range drones targeting Russian territory.
Zelenskyy is set to travel to the United States later this month, where he will present a plan to President Biden and potential successors in the November presidential election. This plan aims to bring an end to the war.
