Blinken Warns That Gains In Ukraine In Doubt If U.S. Aid Withers

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 29 warned that Ukraine's gains over two years of fighting invading Russian troops were all in doubt without new U.S. funding, as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg visited to lobby Congress. Tens of billions of dollars in aid has been sent to Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, but Republican lawmakers have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin's forces grinds on. Blinken offered an increasingly dire picture of Ukraine's prospects without U.S. approval of the so-called supplemental funding amid reports that some progress was being made on the matter late on January 29.