Even as the Russian aggression in Ukraine enters Day 60, the US announced Monday, that it will start sending its diplomats to Lviv onwards the coming week. This will initiate re-start of Consular services in the war-torn nation.
This was shared post a meeting between top US diplomats and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit marked the first time top US officials travelled to Ukraine since the Russian invasion. The meeting comes as Zelenskyy continues to push Western allies for more weapons.
As part of the resumed US diplomatic presence in Ukraine, diplomats will “start with day trips into the Lviv” and “will graduate to potentially other parts of the country and ultimately, to resume presence in Kyiv.”
Blinken and Austin discussed the Biden administration’s intention to provide $713 million in additional foreign military financing to help Ukraine transition to NATO-capable systems. This will be in addition to deliveries of recent US military assistance to Ukraine and the ongoing training for Ukrainian soldiers.
Blinken also relayed that US President Joe Biden would nominate Bridget Brink as US ambassador to Ukraine, according to the senior State Department official. The post that has been without a confirmed ambassador since Marie Yovanovitch was recalled in May 2019. Brink is the current US ambassador to Slovakia.
Both officials briefed press who travelled to the region shortly before Blinken and Austin were due to arrive in Kyiv; the traveling US press corps did not travel with the secretaries to the Ukrainian capital.
Zelenskyy previously addressed Congress in March and called on US lawmakers “to do more.” In his speech, he pushed for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has called for the release of members detained in separatist-held Ukraine. The UK’s defence ministry added that Russia is planning a staged referendum in the southern city of Kherson to justify the invasion.
