After the Kyiv mission of US Secretary of State and Defense Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ mission to Moscow begins, where he is expected with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The United Nations is moving as the third month of the war begins, but the Russian attack from Guterres provoked a cold reaction from the Ukrainian government.
Igor Zhovkva, Zelenskyi’s adviser, openly criticized the UN Secretary-General’s upcoming visit: “It’s not a good idea to go to Moscow, we don’t understand his intention to go there to talk to Putin,” he said in an interview . to NBC. “I highly doubt that these peace talks organized by the UN Secretary-General will produce any results,” he added, acknowledging that “any peace talks are good when they end with a result.”
The Ukrainian president himself had criticized Guterres’ decision to see Putin before going to Kyiv: “There is no justice and logic in that order. The war is in Ukraine, there are no corpses on the streets of Moscow. It would be logical to leave.” . first to Ukraine to see the people there and the consequences of the occupation.”
Meanwhile, Blinken and Pentagon chief Austin Zelenskyy said during her visit to Kyiv that the United States will provide Ukraine and 15 other allied and partner countries with $713 million in military funds. About 322 million dollars are earmarked for Kyiv. The remainder will be split between NATO members and other nations that have provided military aid to Ukraine since the war with Russia began. The new aid differs from previous aid in that it is not a donation of weapons, but funds that countries can use to buy supplies they may need. The new funding, along with $165 million worth of ammunition, brings the total amount of US military aid to Ukraine to $3.7 billion since the start of the Russian invasion.