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Blinken, Austin pledge $700M in aid and return of diplomats to Ukraine after visit

After a secret, high-level trip to Ukraine on Sunday, the United States announced over $700 million in military assistance for Ukraine and allies and the return of U.S. diplomats to the war-torn country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin left reporters across the border in Poland on Sunday, for security reasons, as they ventured into Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in what was the first official U.S. visit to Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. The pair of Cabinet secretaries reportedly informed Zelensky that the U.S. would provide $713 million in foreign military financing for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries, which included $322 million specifically for Kyiv.

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After the trip concluded, a U.S. official reportedly told media in Poland that President Joe Biden would soon announce Bridget Brink, currently U.S. ambassador to Slovakia, as his nominee to be ambassador to Ukraine, a position that has been vacant for two years.

The official also reportedly announced that U.S. diplomats would begin to gradually increase their presence in Ukraine. While the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv will remain closed, diplomats will start making “day trips” to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv beginning this week.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv was abandoned two weeks before Russia’s invasion.

The delegation also reportedly informed Zelensky of the approval of the sale of $165 million in non-U.S. made ammunition to Ukraine. The ammunition is compatible with Soviet-era weapons used by Ukrainian soldiers.

Blinken and Austin reportedly met with Zelensky, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, and other officials for about 90 minutes in Kyiv.

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Zelensky had announced on Saturday that he was meeting with U.S. officials in Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday.

The latest financial pledge and ammunition sale to Ukraine brings the total amount of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to $3.7 billion since the start of the war, the U.S. official in Poland told the media.

Original Location: Blinken, Austin pledge $700M in aid and return of diplomats to Ukraine after visit

Washington Examiner Videos

Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards a plane for departure, Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The Biden administration has unveiled new U.S. military assistance and a diplomatic surge for Ukraine as Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a secrecy-shrouded visit to the capital of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) (Alex Brandon/AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards a plane for departure, Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The Biden administration has unveiled new U.S. military assistance and a diplomatic surge for Ukraine as Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a secrecy-shrouded visit to the capital of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) (Alex Brandon/AP)
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