John Herbst, the US State Department official for Eurasian affairs and the former US ambassador to Ukraine, expected that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would return from his visit to Washington with Patriot missiles to confront Russian and Iranian weapons.
The guest of the "Beyond the News" program accused Russia of waging a barbaric war on Ukraine and working to destroy its infrastructure, stressing that more than 70% of the American people support providing aid to Kiev and that Zelensky's visit to Washington will enhance this support.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken revealed that the new package of US aid to Ukraine includes, for the first time, the Patriot air defense system capable of shooting down cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and others, explaining that the new package raises the total US military aid to Kiev to 21 billion and 900 million dollars since January. January 2021.
Experts believe that the Patriot missiles, which Kyiv demands, will provide the Ukrainians with a qualitative addition in the field and symbolic dimensions.
Blinken's statements came in conjunction with Zelensky's exceptional diplomatic trip to Washington at the invitation of his US counterpart, Joe Biden, to confirm commitment to support Ukraine in security, economic and humanitarian terms, no matter how long it takes, according to the White House spokeswoman.
peace opportunities
Russia, for its part, objects to the Americans supplying Patriot missiles to Kiev, and the Kremlin has warned that the delivery of new American weapons to Ukraine will exacerbate the conflict and does not bode well for Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin and his defense minister also hinted at Russia's nuclear capabilities and preparations and announced the deployment of the "Sarmat" intercontinental missile systems.
According to a member of the Russian State Duma, Yevgeny Fedorov, the visit of the Ukrainian president to Washington is a mistake committed by the US administration, and he said that the United States wants to prolong the war in Ukraine and push Moscow to activate nuclear weapons.
The Russian guest does not expect progress regarding peace negotiations after Zelensky's visit to the United States, stressing that his country is ready to make concessions for the sake of peace, and is ready to agree with the Ukrainian leadership, but on the condition that it does not receive American weapons, in addition to Moscow's adherence to the Ukrainian lands that it annexed, which the spokesman says. It belongs to Russia under international laws.
According to the former US ambassador to Ukraine, the way to achieve peace is by giving arms to the Ukrainians to defeat Russia so that it will give up the lands it has seized, and also by its withdrawal from Ukraine and the return of Crimea and the regions it has seized since last February.
It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian president will meet his US counterpart Biden during his visit to Washington, and he will also deliver a speech to Congress, which is his first visit outside Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of his country.