Two months after the start of the Ukraine war, the tone has changed in Washington.

When Antony Blinken appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, he sounded almost enthusiastic: he had just returned from Kyiv with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The trip left unforgettable impressions, said the Foreign Minister.

When both of them traveled through Ukraine by train, they saw landscapes that, a few months ago, Russia believed it could conquer within weeks.

In Kyiv, people then felt that life was returning to the dynamic capital.

"The Ukrainians won the battle for Kyiv," said Blinken.

And: Ukraine will continue to be a free and independent country.

He is proud of how America has supported Kyiv - and is convinced that

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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Austin had previously made it clear that Washington was not only increasing its military aid, but also changing its strategic objective.

In Poland, the defense minister said on Monday: "We want to see Russia weakened to an extent that makes it impossible for the country to do what it did with the invasion of Ukraine." Russia has already lost many of its military resources and also many soldiers.

"We don't want them to be able to quickly replace those resources." Later, government officials made it clear that Austin's testimony was aimed directly at giving Volodymyr Zelenskyy the strongest hand in any possible ceasefire negotiations in the coming months.

Blinken referred to this in Congress: "Our goal is to ensure

that they (the Ukrainians) have the ability to repel Russian aggression and to strengthen their position at a future negotiating table.” The American administration would not oppose Ukraine becoming neutral and renouncing NATO membership as part of a peace solution .

However, he added that so far there has been no sign that Vladimir Putin is serious about meaningful negotiations.

Washington is aware that the broadening of strategic goals is changing the American role in the conflict with Russia.

When the war started in late February, President Joe Biden was prepared.

Coordinated with the allies, severe sanctions against Moscow, military aid for Kyiv and the strengthening of the eastern flank of the NATO alliance area followed.

However, Biden always made it clear that he was not aiming for a direct confrontation with Russia.

Therefore, he made it clear that he was not sending any American soldiers to Ukraine.

And that's why he also rejected Zelenskyy's call for a no-fly zone.

Biden continues to reject a direct confrontation, which harbors the risk of a third world war.

But Austin's words reflect the fact that, given Russia's war crimes and Ukraine's military successes, Washington is pursuing goals that go beyond strengthening Kiev's negotiating position.

The purpose of the sanctions was to prevent the development and production of new weapons in Russia.

After all, the Russian defense industry depends on importing high-tech components.

When Biden announced the sanctions at the time, he said it was about weakening the Russian economy and the military “over the years”.

In view of Moscow's military difficulties, which have not been overcome with the concentration of fighting on the Donbass, the boundaries are blurred: Biden initially justified the arms deliveries to Kyiv by saying that he wanted to help a small democracy defend itself against a large neighbor.

The heavy weapons that Washington and many Western allies are now supplying are not only intended to increase the costs of Russia's war, but also to weaken the country in its defeat for the long term.

The dispute is believed to have lasted for years.

As in the Cold War, America is once again becoming the central European power.

It pays a price for this: the Biden administration cannot concentrate solely on the rivalry with China.

Of course, Washington's course correction harbors dangers.

Notwithstanding this new form of confrontation between Washington and Moscow, both sides carried out a prisoner exchange on Wednesday.

Former American soldier Trevor Reed and Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko have been released from prison.

Reed was convicted in Russia in 2019 for allegedly endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk.

Yaroshenko, on the other hand, was convicted of smuggling cocaine into America.

In Washington, it was emphasized that the exchange was treated completely separately from the Ukraine war - and not the beginning of a new dialogue between the two sides.