Blinken, Lammy visit Ukraine as Kyiv awaits decision on long-range strikes
on Google
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Ukraine on Sept. 11 to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials.
The diplomacy chiefs of Ukraine's key foreign supporters will discuss "continued support for Ukraine's defense against Russia’s aggression and how to ensure Ukraine can thrive militarily, economically, and democratically in the long term," the U.S. State Department press release read.
Their arrival comes amid mounting calls for the Biden administration to lift restrictions on long-range strikes deep inside Russia to allow Ukraine to better respond to Russian attacks.
The two foreign officials were accompanied by Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K. and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
When asked whether U.S. President Joe Biden is considering repealing the restrictions in an interview with Sky News, Blinken said: "We never rule out. But when we rule in, we want to make sure it's done in such a way that it can advance what the Ukrainians are trying to achieve."
Ukraine has received shipments of long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles from the U.S. and the U.K., but the two countries did not permit their use inside Russian territory.
While announcing the visit on Sept. 10, the U.S. and other Western partners confirmed previous reports that Iran has supplied ballistic missiles to Russia, becoming the second country to do so after North Korea.
The West called this step an "escalation of Iran's military support to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine" and threatened further sanctions against Tehran.
Blinken and Lammy arrive as Kyiv is hosting its fourth summit of the Crimean Platform, an international consultation and coordination format aimed at ensuring the liberation of the peninsula from the Russian occupation.
Blinken previously visited Ukraine in May. While using the occasion to announce new military support worth $2 billion, the visit was also remembered in Ukraine thanks to Blinken's guitar performance of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" in a Kyiv bar.
The gig has been criticized by some as "tone-deaf" as Ukraine was facing a new Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast while Washington refused to budge on its restrictions on strikes inside Russia.
This will be Lammy's first visit to Ukraine since he assumed office on July 5 after the Labour Party's victory in the U.K. elections.
