© Reuters. U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin appears on as he attends the ASEAN Protection Ministers’ Assembly Plus in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 16, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Pool/ File Picture
KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin arrived in wartime Kyiv on Monday in a gesture of “unwavering” assist as questions swirled over the sustainability of significant Western help because the warfare with Russia drags on.
Austin, accompanied by the commander of the U.S. European Command, was proven subsequent to a prepare shaking fingers with the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv in {a photograph} revealed by the embassy.
“I’m here today to deliver an important message – the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russia’s aggression, both now and into the future,” Austin wrote on social media platform X.
U.S. ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink mentioned the go to signalled Washington’s “unwavering support to Ukraine in its fight for freedom”.
The journey comes amid growing division over support for Ukraine within the U.S. legislature with a U.S. presidential election in November subsequent yr. A joint Ukraine-U.S. navy trade convention in Washington is because of happen subsequent month.
That occasion, due on Dec. 6 and seven, is meant to spice up Ukraine’s home arms manufacturing as its battle in opposition to a full-scale Russian invasion nears the two-year mark.
Russia, which launched its invasion in February 2022, controls practically a fifth of Ukraine. The West despatched in navy gear and Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive push this yr to retake occupied land, but it surely has not made a giant breakthrough.
