U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured Ukraine that U.S. support be beefed up ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration early next year, as Russia launched its first missile and drone attack on Kyiv since August, forcing residents into bomb shelters.
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Blinken, who met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on November 13, said the administration of President Joe Biden, who leaves office on January 20, would "continue to shore up everything we're doing for Ukraine" and "use every day" to support Ukraine and strengthen NATO.
“President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20,” Blinken said, adding that NATO countries must focus their efforts on “ensuring that Ukraine has the money, munitions, and mobilized forces to fight effectively in 2025, or to be able to negotiate a peace from a position of strength.”
Trump has repeatedly questioned Washington's military backing for Kyiv and vowed to rapidly end the war started by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But he has not said how he will put an end to the conflict, raising concern that he would try to force Ukraine to accept Moscow's terms for peace.
Blinken also said the deployment of North Korean troops to help Russia in the Ukraine war "demands and will get a firm response." More than 10,000 North Korean troops are engaged in combat in Russia's Kursk border region, according to the Pentagon.
Asked by RFE/RL if Washington intends to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range modern weapons to strike deeper inside Russia, as requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his recently presented "victory plan," Blinken did not offer a direct answer, saying the United States will continue to "adapt and adjust" to Ukraine's needs.
"We're addressing many of the needs that are laid out in the victory plan. That's something that we discussed with allies and partners today," Blinken said.
"I am convinced that we will continue to adapt and adjust if necessary," he added.
Blinken also met in Brussels with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, who said Kyiv had maintained contact with both U.S. political parties and had worked with both Trump's team and Biden's.
Sybiha said he would discuss protection of critical infrastructure with Blinken, according to a State Department statement.
"Ukraine's defense cannot be put on hold and wait. Every day Russia is bombing our critical infrastructure -- energy, ports, hospitals, and schools," Sybiha said. "We need better protection for our people already now, not later."
He added that he was "confident that we can count on continued U.S. support and further decisive steps."
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Pokrovsk Civilians Battle Bombs And Winter (Video)
Ukraine's whole territory was under an air-raid alert early on November 13 as Moscow launched a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones on Kyiv for the first time in 73 days.
"Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, wrote on Telegram.
Explosions shook Kyiv for hours as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged the Ukrainian capital's residents to take cover.
"More drones are entering the capital. The danger of missiles also persists. Don't leave the shelters!" Klitschko wrote on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that its air defenses downed two cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and 37 drones over Kyiv and seven other Ukrainian regions -- Poltava, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhya, Chernihiv, and Kirovohrad. It said that 47 more drones lost their way as Ukrainian electronic defenses jammed their navigation systems.
Russia has stepped up its daily attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, causing further destruction to the country's already battered civilian and energy infrastructure as the cold season settles in.