Blinken: US Arms Will Make a Difference05/14 06:00

   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military 
aid on its way to Ukraine will make a "real difference" on the battlefield, as 
the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce 
new Russian offensive.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday 
that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a "real difference" 
on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure 
an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive.

   In increasingly intense attacks along the northeastern border in recent 
days, Moscow's troops have captured around 100 to 125 square kilometers (about 
40 to 50 square miles) of territory that includes at least seven villages, 
according to open source monitoring analysts. Though most of those villages 
were already depopulated, thousands of civilians in the area have fled the 
fighting.

   Analysts have called this moment one of the most dangerous for Ukraine since 
Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 -- and President Volodymyr 
Zelenskyy asked Tuesday for more air defense systems to protect civilians under 
Russian fire in the northeast.

   "We know this is a challenging time," Blinken said in the Ukrainian capital 
where he met with Zelenskyy. But he added that American military aid is "going 
to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the 
battlefield."

   The visit comes less than a month after Congress approved a long-delayed 
foreign assistance package that sets aside $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, much 
of which will go toward replenishing badly depleted artillery and air defense 
systems.

   Some of that "is now on the way," Blinken said, and some has already arrived 
in Ukraine.

   Moscow's renewed offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv is the most 
significant border incursion since the early days of the war. More than 7,500 
civilians have been evacuated from the area, according to authorities.

   The Kremlin's forces are now expanding their push to the northern border 
regions of Sumy and Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials say, and repeated shelling 
and sabotage raids there are further stretching Kyiv's resources.

   Zelenskyy thanked Blinken for the aid -- but added that more is necessary, 
including two Patriot air defense systems that are urgently needed to protect 
Kharkiv.

   "The people are under attack: civilians, warriors, everybody. They're under 
Russian missiles," he said.

   Artillery, air defense interceptors and long-range ballistic missiles have 
already been delivered, some of them already to the front lines, said a senior 
U.S. official traveling with the secretary on an overnight train from Poland 
who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Blinken's meetings.

   On his fourth trip to Kyiv since Russian troops rolled over the border, 
Blinken's goal is to underscore the Biden administration's commitment to 
Ukraine's defense and long-term security, U.S. officials said. They noted that 
since President Joe Biden signed the aid package late last month, the 
administration has already announced $1.4 billion in short-term military 
assistance and $6 billion in longer-term support.

   In a statement released after Blinken's arrival, the State Department said 
he would hold talks with Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials "to 
discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new U.S. security and economic 
assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to 
bolster Ukraine's economic recovery."

   Delays in U.S. assistance, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war began and 
has preoccupied top administration officials, triggered deep concerns in Kyiv 
and Europe. Blinken, for example, has visited the Middle East seven times since 
the Gaza conflict began in October. His last trip to Kyiv was in September.

   The U.S. official added that Blinken also would give a speech later Tuesday 
extolling Ukraine's "strategic successes" in the war. It is intended to 
complement a Blinken address last year in Helsinki, Finland, deriding Russian 
President Vladimir Putin for Moscow's strategic failures in launching the war.

   Since the Helsinki speech, however, Russia has intensified its attacks, most 
noticeably as the U.S. House of Representatives sat on the aid package for 
months without action, forcing a suspension in the provision of most U.S. 
assistance. Those attacks have increased in recent weeks as Russia has sought 
to take advantage of Ukrainian shortages in manpower and weapons while the new 
assistance is in transit.

   Top Biden administration officials and Ukrainian national security officials 
held a call Monday "about the situation on the front, about the capabilities 
that they are most in need of, and a real triage effort to say, 'Get us this 
stuff this fast so that we can be in a position to effectively defend against 
the Russian onslaught,'" said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

   The administration is "trying to really accelerate the tempo" of U.S. weapon 
shipments, he said.

   Zelenskyy said over the weekend that "fierce battles" are taking place near 
the border in eastern and northeastern Ukraine as outgunned and outnumbered 
Ukrainian soldiers try to push back a significant Russian ground offensive.

   The new Russian push in the northeastern Kharkiv region and a drive into the 
eastern Donetsk region come after months when the roughly 1,000-kilometer 
(620-mile) front line barely budged. In the meantime, both sides have used 
long-range strikes in what largely became a war of attrition.

   The senior U.S. official said despite some recent setbacks, Ukraine could 
still claim significant victories. Those include reclaiming some 50% of the 
territory Russian forces took in the early months of the war, boosting its 
economic standing and improving transportation and trade links, not least 
through military successes in the Black Sea.

   The official acknowledged that Ukraine faces "a tough fight" and is "under 
tremendous pressure" but argued that Ukrainians "will become increasingly more 
confident" as the new U.S. and other Western assistance begins to arrive.