Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a stealth visit to Kyiv on Sunday night, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy …
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a stealth visit to Kyiv on Sunday night, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russia’s messy invasion rumbled into its third month, ignoring calls for a ceasefire in observance of Orthodox Easter. The arrival of Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin marked the highest-level trip to the Ukrainian capital by a U.S. delegation since the Russian invasion began. While the Biden administration had refused to comment on the visit amid tight security, an adviser to Mr. Zelenskyy told Ukrainian TV the meeting was underway in Kyiv late Sunday night. The visit came at the end of a weekend in which Mr. Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of continued targeting of civilians while Moscow claimed the Russian military had carried out successful strikes Sunday against a Ukrainian explosives factory, several artillery depots and hundreds of other targets. While Ukraine’s military successfully staved off a Russian assault on Kyiv weeks ago, Mr. Zelenskyy said over the weekend he intended to press Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin for more powerful weapons than Washington and NATO have so far provided — even after President Biden’s announcement last week of a fresh $800 million worth of aid in the form of U.S. military equipment. “You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in reference to Kyiv’s repeated requests since the invasion began for such heavy weapons as long-range air defense systems and warplanes. Ukrainians solemnly observed Orthodox Easter on Sunday, while Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said Russian forces had used precision-guided missiles to destroy a factory making powder and explosives near Pavlohrad in central Ukraine in overnight strikes heading into the holiday. SEE ALSO: Russian forces trying to forcibly deport civilians from Mariupol to Russia, Ukrainian lawmaker says The general also claimed Russian forces had struck several depots with artillery munitions and rockets in Barvinkove, Nova Dmytrivka, Ivanivka, Husarivka and Velyka Komyshuvakha in the Kharkiv region.
