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Blinken Pledges $2 Billion in U.S. Military Aid for Europe

KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unscheduled visit to Kyiv on Thursday as the Biden administration announced major new military aid worth more than $2 billion for Ukraine and other European countries threatened by Russia.

In meetings with senior Ukrainian officials, Blinken said the Biden administration would provide $2 billion in long-term foreign military financing to Ukraine and 18 of its neighbors, including NATO members and regional security partners “most potentially at risk for future Russian aggression.”

That’s on top of a $675 million package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armored vehicles for Ukraine alone that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier Thursday at a conference in Ramstein, Germany. The package also includes artillery ammunition, howitzers as well armored ambulances, anti tank systems, and Humvees.

Austin said that “the war is at another key moment,” with Ukrainian forces beginning their counteroffensive in the south of the country. He said that “now we’re seeing the demonstrable success of our common efforts on the battlefield.”

“The face of the war is changing and so is the mission of this contact group,” Austin told the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine’s defense minister as well as officials from allied countries.

Thursday’s contributions bring total U.S. aid to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since Biden took office. U.S. officials said the new commitments were intended to show that American support for the country in the face of Russia’s invasion is unwavering.

These announcements were made as the fighting between Russia and Ukraine has escalated in recent days with Ukrainian forces mounting counteroffensives to take back Russian-held regions in the east and south.

Shelling has continued near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, with the warring sides trading blame again amid dire warnings from the U.N. atomic watchdog for the creation of a safe zone to prevent a catastrophe.

Moscow was accused by the U.S. of forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainians from Russia. Russian officials immediately rejected the claim as “fantasy.”

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Matthew Lee, AP Diplomatic Writer, reported from Rzeszow (Poland).

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