U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his official state visit to Kyiv by meeting Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the morning of May 6.
Read also: Blinken travels to Ukraine, land of his ancestors, to show US support
Earlier, Kuleba told CNN that during the meeting, he will request air defense systems and anti-sniper technology for Ukraine.
“I want to make it clear that it’s not only about receiving it from the United States, but also about buying it from the United States,” said Kuleba. “We want this partnership to work both ways. It should be mutually beneficial.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on May 6, 2021, in Kyiv.
On March 1, the U.S. Department of Defense said that Ukraine will receive $125 million, followed by another $150 million once it demonstrates reforms.
Blinken is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine since President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20.
He has a busy day packed with meetings. (Full schedule available here). Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland accompanies Blinken.
Blinken has met with the heads of the factions of the Ukrainian parliament at 9 a.m. Among them was Ukraine’s ex-President Petro Poroshenko, leader of the 27-member European Solidarity party.
After meeting Ukrainian lawmakers and Kuleba, Blinken laid flowers to the National Wall of Remembrance dedicated to Ukrainian soldiers killed during the ongoing Russian invasion.
Later, the Secretary of State met Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Mikhailovsky Monastery.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and Head of the Independent Ukrainian Church Metropolitan Epiphanius meet at Mykhailivsky Cathedral (St. Michael Cathedral) in Kyiv on May 6. (Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
Then, Blinken headed to the presidential administration building to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky at 11 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denis Shmygal pose for a photo prior to their talks in Kyiv on May 6, 2021. (kmu.gov.ua)
Blinken and Zelensky gave a joint press conference at 12:30 p.m. They made short statements and took two questions from the media — from BBC and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s Ukraine TV channel.
The joint press conference of President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv.
After his meeting with Zelensky, the secretary of state meet with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and with the leaders of Ukraine’s civic society. The meeting was livestreamed online.
Meeting with Zelensky
Zelensky and Blinken held their press conference at a meeting table, joined by top officials from Zelensky’s administration, Kuleba, Nuland, and other members of the U.S. delegation.
Zelensky opened the event by saying that he was impressed with the high level of the U.S. delegation and their knowledge of Ukraine.
“Although it’s our first meeting, it doesn’t feel like the first meeting. They know our issues so well, ,” Zelensky said and added jokingly, in his usual manner: “Perhaps, sometimes it’s not a good thing.”
Blinken said that he was “delighted to be back” in Ukraine.
“I’m visiting Ukraine to reassure U.S. support for Ukraine,” said Blinken. “Ukraine faces two main threats, one is external coming from Russia, the other is internal – corruption, oligarchs and those who are willing to destabilize Ukraine from within.”
Zelensky and Blinken discussed in detail the military assistance that the U.S. is providing.
“We are looking into further supporting Ukraine with military aid,” said Blinken.
Among other topics they discussed was the abrupt change of leadership of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company, the state of fight against corruption and oligarch influence, the judicial reform, and more.
“We discussed Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic path, as well as the country’s work to promote reforms and eliminate corruption. We talked about institutional reform. There are many forces that oppose reforms and the fight against corruption. These are external forces such as Russia, and domestic forces such as oligarchs and powerful people who pursue their own interests by illegal means,” Blinken said.
“The fight against corruption is one of the most important issues for the Ukrainian people and crucial for improving their lives. We also talked about corporate governance, transparency, integrity and independence of anti-corruption bodies and judicial reform,” he added.
“We see that on Ukrainian borders the amount of Russian troops is the largest since 2014,” said Blinken. “We are against Russian actions concerning their attempts to destabilize Ukraine. Corrupt officials and Russian aggression are trying to reach a similar goal to take away from Ukrainians the things that they own by right — their resources, territories, justice.”
Although the Kremlin said it would withdraw its forces that it amassed near Ukraine’s border in April, in reality, only some 3,500 troops were withdrawn and some 80,000 troops remain close to Ukraine’s eastern border.
The photo, released by the presidential press service, shows President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken greet each other during their meeting in Kyiv on May 6, 2021.
Zelensky added that the two discussed the issue of of Nord Stream 2.
“We know that in Europe unfortunately there are different opinions on this issue, but we are grateful for U.S. support on this issue and for the implemented sanctions,” Zelensky said.
On reforms, Zelensky confronted a BBC journalist who asked about the rollback of reforms.
“I don’t understand what you mean by rollback, we’re moving only forward,” he said. “I’m sorry but perhaps you don’t know well the issue of how many reforms were done before our team (took office) and how many reforms are done now.”
Blinken said that he will pass on Zelensky’s invitation for Biden to visit Ukraine for the celebration of 30 years of the country’s independence on Aug. 24.
