US State Secy Blinken makes surprise visit to Ukraine; meets children at Kyiv hospital

The US State Antony Blinken on Thursday paid an unannounced visit to the war-ravaged Ukrainian capital after US President Joe Biden approved additional military aid to Ukraine worth up to $675 million. During his trip, Blinken visited a children’s hospital in Kyiv and was pictured holding a landmine sniffer dog and holding conservation with children from the Kherson region, The Guardian reported.

Blinken met with senior Ukrainian officials and confirmed that the Biden administration would provide over $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."

US approves additional $675mn in weapons for Ukraine 

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, at a conference in Ramstein, Germany, confirmed that President Joe Biden has approved additional military aid to Ukraine worth up to $675 million. He said that US weapon aid to Ukraine would include howitzers, artillery munitions, Humvees, armoured ambulances, anti-tank systems, and more. In addition to ammunition, the US Defense Department will also send vehicles and other equipment to Ukraine. Austin said that "the war is at another key moment," with Ukrainian forces putting up a tough challenge against Russian attackers. "Now we’re seeing the demonstrable success of our common efforts on the battlefield," he added.

"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 defence minister as well as officials from allied countries. It is worth noting that the United States' most recent contribution to Ukraine has now surpassed $ 15 billion. 

Russia using filtration centers to detain, interrogate abuse Ukrainians: White House

This development comes at a time when the US has accused Russia of using filtration centres in eastern Ukraine and western Russia to detain, interrogate, and, in some cases, abuse thousands of Ukrainians, a senior White House official has said. Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the United States assessed that the Kremlin views filtration operations as crucial to their efforts to annex areas of Ukraine under their control. Later, at the United Nations, US Ambassador to the UN Thomas Greenfield also reiterated that Russia should stop its filtration operations immediately. Greenfield said that Moscow must allow the UN's independent observers and humanitarian and human rights organisations access to these filtration sites and to those who have been sent to Russia.

Image: AP

With Inputs from AP