Ukraine war: Blinken visits Kyiv as Russia ramps up military offensive

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday in the first visit by a senior Biden administration official to the war-torn country since the U.S. passed a long-delayed $61 billion military aid package and as Russian forces appeared to be making advances near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city.

Blinken arrived Kyiv by train from Poland early Tuesday morning. The trip, intended to highlight what the State Department described in a statement as "enduring support" for Ukraine as it battles a new push by Russia into its northeastern corridor, was not previously disclosed. The top U.S. diplomat met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other officials.

The State Department said Blinken would get "battlefield updates" from Ukraine's leadership and discuss "the impact of new U.S. security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments."

Ukraine is running low on munitions and needs help bolstering its air defense systems. The U.S. is sending artillery, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and air defense interceptors to Ukraine.

In his meeting with Zelenskyy, Blinken said U.S. military aid would "make a real difference" and that "we're determined, along with many other partners for Ukraine, to make sure you succeed on the battlefield."

'It's hard, but they're holding on': On the ground in Ukraine, the war depends on U.S. weapons

Russia's 'inexorable advance' in Ukraine

On Monday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. was trying to accelerate "the tempo" of weapons deliveries to Ukraine after the fresh military aid was held up in Congress for about six months. "The delay put Ukraine in a hole and we're trying to help them dig out of that hole as rapidly as possible," he said.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in its most recent assessment that Russia's military forces are making "tactically significant advances north and northeast of Kharkiv" and "setting conditions for deeper penetrations" into the region. Russia controls an estimated 18% of Ukraine's territory.

The Kremlin announced Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to replace Sergei Shoigu, his defense minister since 2012 and a long-standing ally, with Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister who specializes in economics. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, told reporters that the change made sense because Russia was now allocating 7.4% of state spending to its military and law enforcement authorities.

Jack Watling, a military researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank, said in a commentary Tuesday that Russia's current military aim in Ukraine "is not to achieve a grand breakthrough, but rather to convince Ukraine that it can keep up an inexorable advance, kilometer by kilometer, along the front.”

Watling said Ukraine faces a "bleak outlook" but that if its allies "replenish Ukrainian munitions stockpiles, help to establish a robust training pipeline, and make the industrial investments to sustain the effort, then Russia’s summer offensive can be blunted, and Ukraine will receive the breathing space it needs to regain the initiative.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blinken in Ukraine amid Russian military advances