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Austin and Blinken met with the President of Ukraine on Sunday
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in an interview with journalists in Poland on Monday (April 25) that he hopes Russia will be “weakened” so that it cannot repeat in other countries what it is doing in Ukraine.
“We want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, a democratic country capable of protecting its territory,” the retired fourstar general said.
“We want Russia to be weakened to the point where it can no longer do what it did when it invaded Ukraine,” he added.
According to BBC correspondent James Landale, Austin’s comments about a weakened Russia are “unusually strong” for a US defense secretary.
“It’s one thing to help Ukraine resist Russian aggression and another to talk about weakening Russia,” Landale said.
In an apparent reaction to Austin’s comments, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of trying to “divide Russian society and destroy Russia from within,” an argument he has made repeatedly over the years.
Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday (April 24), marking the most sensational visit by US officials to Ukraine since the invasion began more than two months ago.
The more than threehour meeting between US officials and Ukraine comes as Russia ramps up its military campaign in the south and east of the country.
What else did he say?
The Pentagon chief assured that his country believes that Ukraine can win the conflict with “the right team” and “appropriate support”.
He also announced that the US would provide an additional US$713 million (3.5 billion reais) in military aid to Ukraine and other European nations.
Almost $332 million of that is earmarked for Kyiv, according to Austin.
With this amount, the total security assistance that the US has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion is more than $3.7 billion (18 billion reais).
Zelenskyi has been urging Western leaders for weeks to increase the flow of military equipment, promising that Ukrainian forces can overtake Russian forces if they are given fighter jets and other weapons.
Last week, the US confirmed that it had equipped Ukrainian troops with artillery cannons and antiartillery radar for the first time.
Russia’s ambassador in Washington said his country had sent a diplomatic note calling for an end to US arms sales to Ukraine.
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“We want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, a democratic country capable of protecting its sovereign territory,” Austin said.
Return of the diplomats
Blinken announced that some US diplomats will return to Ukraine starting next week.
They are expected to initially settle in Lviv, in western Ukraine, as they implement a longterm plan to reopen the US embassy in the capital, Kyiv.
President Joe Biden intends to appoint Bridget Brink, a career diplomat, as ambassador to Ukraine, a post that has been vacant for more than two years.
Blinken also defended US diplomatic strategy, claiming that the alliance of western countries formed by Biden was putting pressure on the Putin administration.
“The strategy we implemented, the massive support for Ukraine, the massive pressure against Russia, the solidarity with more than 30 countries involved in this effort shows real results,” Blinken said.
“And we see that Russia fails, Ukraine succeeds when it comes to Russia’s war aims. A sovereign and independent Ukraine will be on the scene much longer than Vladimir Putin,” Blinken added.
Credit, AFP
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Russia suffered significant casualties
Analysis by Jonathan Beale, BBC Defense Correspondent
President Biden has always made it clear that the United States will not intervene directly in the Ukraine war and will not send American troops into the war. But the truth is that the US is becoming increasingly involved. And this was highlighted by the words of the Secretary of Defense.
The US has dramatically increased arms sales to Ukraine in recent weeks. Despite Russian warnings, it’s clear it will be broadcasting more.
Credit, Reuters
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“Austin’s comments make it clear that the United States is not a bystander in this war. The United States wants Russia defeated,” writes BBC Defense Correspondent Jonathan Beale.
Austin’s comments make it clear that the United States is not a bystander in this war. The United States wants to see Russia defeated.
What’s more, they want to see Russia’s military machine reduced to the point where it can no longer threaten other European allies.
The fear shared by NATO allies is that any kind of defeat in Ukraine will only fuel Putin’s ambitions.
Austin has now made it clear that the US has its own strategic goals for this war, even if in theory it is not participating.
The aim is to deter Putin and weaken Russia’s military to the point that it is no longer able to threaten other nations.
Some of this has already happened.
Military experts already believe it will take years for Russia to recover from its military losses. It could also send a signal to another nation the United States is growing concerned about: China.
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