KYIV, OCT 21 – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit today, hours after a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Western partners to continue providing military support for war.
Austin said on the X platform that his fourth visit showed “that the US, along with the international community, continues to support Ukraine.”
Ukraine is having difficulty resisting Russia’s violent campaign along the eastern flank that is gradually forcing Kyiv’s army to surrender several towns, villages and hamlets.
Zelenskyy urged Western allies to support what he called a ‘victory plan’ to end the nearly three-year war, which is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians.
His strategy includes a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia, a move Kyiv’s allies have previously refused to support.
The Western response to the plan has been lukewarm, and Austin is expected to discuss the plan with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said in a video speech yesterday afternoon that his plan has received support from France, Lithuania, the Nordic countries and many other unnamed allies in the European Union.
The main country, however, is the US which is Ukraine’s largest military supplier. – AP
