Ukraine’s leader petitioned for more powerful Western weapons as he prepared to meet with top U.S. officials in the war-torn country’s capital Sunday …
Ukraine’s leader petitioned for more powerful Western weapons as he prepared to meet with top U.S. officials in the war-torn country’s capital Sunday and Russian forces concentrated their attacks on the east, including trying to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops holding out in the battered port city of Mariupol. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a lengthy Saturday night news conference held in a Kyiv subway station. The White House has not commented. Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in terms of arms and security guarantees. « 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,″ he said. The visit would be the first by senior U.S. officials since Russia invaded Ukraine 60 days ago. Blinken stepped briefly onto Ukrainian soil in March to meet with the country’s foreign minister during a visit to Poland. Zelenskyy’s last face-to-face meeting with a U.S. leader was Feb.19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris. The meeting was set to take place as Ukrainians and Russians observed Orthodox Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and considered the most joyful holiday on the Christian calendar. Speaking Sunday from the ancient St. Sophia Cathedral, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, highlighted the allegorical significance of the occasion to a nation wracked by nearly two months of war. « The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death and therefore Ukraine will surely win, » he said. Earlier, during his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskyy claimed that intercepted communications recorded Russian troops discussing « how they conceal the traces of their crimes » in Mariupol.
