KYIV, Ukraine — The United States “will get Ukraine what it needs” to fight its war with Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, but he gave no hint that Washington might endorse key planks of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan.”
The United States will provide Ukraine with what it requires “to fight for its survival and security,” Austin said in a speech at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine. He noted that the U.S. delivered more than $58 billion in security assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, making it Kyiv’s main backer.
That includes a new $400 million package of military aid that the Biden administration announced Monday, including munitions for rocket systems and artillery, mortar systems and rounds, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons. It comes just days after the U.S. said it will send $425 million in military assistance to Ukraine.
But Zelenskyy has asked Ukraine’s Western allies to go a few steps further, notably inviting Ukraine to join NATO and letting it use Western-supplied longer-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory. Those steps have met with a lukewarm response.
Ukraine is having difficulty holding back a ferocious Russian campaign along the eastern front. It faces a hard winter after Russia targeted its power grid.
Austin’s remarks were notable for what they did not include — an endorsement of Ukraine being invited into NATO, or any indication the U.S. will support Ukraine becoming more aggressive in its defense with longer-range attacks on Russian soil.
With the U.S. presidential election about two weeks away, U.S. officials are treading carefully. President Joe Biden has balked at measures that might escalate the war and bring a confrontation between NATO and Russia.
Austin said “there is no silver bullet. No single capability will turn the tide. No one system will end Putin’s assault.
“What matters is the way that Ukraine fights back,” Austin told the assembled diplomatic and military personnel at the academy. “What matters is the combined effects of your military capabilities. And what matters is staying focused on what works.”
