Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on May 15 a $2 billion fund to help Ukraine as Russian forces continue to ramp up their assault on the country.
Mr. Blinken announced the foreign military financing during a press conference in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The secretary of state said the aid is part of a “first-of-its-kind defense enterprise fund” and will comprise three separate components.
The first component will provide weapons to Ukraine “today,” the second will invest in Ukraine’s defense industrial base to further strengthen its production capacity for itself and others, and the third component will help Ukraine purchase military equipment from other countries—not just the United States—for its own use, according to Mr. Blinken.
Mr. Blinken’s announcement comes after lawmakers in Washington last month approved a $61 billion package of aid for Ukraine.
Thousands Evacuate Kharkiv
Mr. Blinken’s visit to Ukraine came as Russian troops pushed deeper into the nation’s second-largest city of Kharkiv this week, prompting Ukraine to issue evacuation alerts for thousands of residents.
According to Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces are homing in on the town of Vovchansk, located roughly three miles from the Russian border.
Speaking during the May 15 press conference, Mr. Kuleba stressed that every delay in supplies to the country “results in setbacks on the front line.” He urged the international community to “make new announcements” regarding financial and military support for Ukraine and “to deliver on them.”
‘Renewed Brutal Russian Onslaught’
Mr. Blinken also acknowledged that Ukraine is in desperate need of additional support more than two years into Russia’s invasion, noting that all eyes are currently focused on the situation in the east and the northeast, particularly in Kharkiv.The latest financial support—including the $61 billion aid package—is coming at a “critical time,” he told reporters.
“Ukraine is facing this renewed brutal Russian onslaught, and we see again senseless strikes at civilians, residential buildings,” Mr. Blinken said, adding that he had also emphasized during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week that Washington is working as fast as it can to get aid to the country.
“We’re rushing ammunition, armored vehicles, missiles, air defenses; rushing them to get to the front lines to protect soldiers, to protect civilians.”
Mr. Blinken also stressed that while the United States remains a fierce ally of Ukraine and is steadfast in its commitment to ensuring it wins in the war against Russia, Washington has not “encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine.”
“Ultimately, Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war, a war it’s conducting in defense of its freedom, of its sovereignty, of its territorial integrity,” the secretary of state said. “We will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment that it needs to succeed, that it needs to win.”
