China News Agency, Washington, April 25 (Reporter Sha Hanting) The U.S. State Department issued a statement on the 25th local time, saying that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin arrived in Ukraine on the 24th and held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. talks.
Blinken and Austin met with Zelensky and Ukraine's foreign and defense ministers in Kyiv, the statement said.
The United States reiterated its support for Ukraine and will continue to provide Ukraine with military and economic assistance.
Blinken also said that the United States also supports Ukraine in ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through diplomatic negotiations.
Blinken also informed Zelensky that U.S. President Joe Biden would nominate Bridget Brink, the current U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, to be the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Blinken also said that U.S. diplomats will begin returning to Ukraine this week, and the U.S. side is committed to returning diplomats to the U.S. embassy in Kyiv as soon as possible.
On February 14 this year, the United States announced the temporary closure of the U.S. embassy in Ukraine in Kyiv.
In addition, Blinken also said that the United States will provide another $713 million in military assistance to Ukraine and its surrounding allies.
Since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, the United States has provided about $3.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine and its surrounding allies.
Due to Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, the United States has taken several rounds of sanctions against Russia, including sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other individuals, exclusion of some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system, and cancellation of normal trade relations with Russia, etc. .
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