By AFP | 2023-11-21

KYIV -- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged further American support for Ukraine during an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday (November 20) to stem concerns that help from its biggest ally could waver.

The United States has provided more than $40 billion in security aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion and pledged to back Kyiv for "as long as it takes."

Austin announced "another $100 million drawdown... to provide additional artillery munitions, additional interceptors for air defense, and a number of anti-tank weapons" during a news conference in Kyiv.

In Washington, the State Department said the assistance includes three million rounds of small-arms ammunition and equipment for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) precision rocket launchers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the additional package in his nightly address, noting, "There will be more artillery shells that are needed right now."

The two had met a few hours earlier, and Austin ensured US support would not lapse.

"The message that I bring you today, Mr. President, is that the United States of America is with you. We will remain with you for the long haul," Austin told Zelenskyy.

"What happens here in Ukraine -- that not only matters to Ukraine but it matters to the rest of the world. It certainly matters to the United States of America," he added.

The trip to Kyiv -- which also included a meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minster Rustem Umerov and a visit at the US embassy -- is the Pentagon chief's second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv, and a cut to US aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war.

Zelenskyy said Austin's visit was "an important signal for Ukraine" and thanked Congress as well as the American people for their backing.

"We count on your support," he said at the meeting.

'Smaller' aid packages

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged US lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defense chief saying, "Without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful."

But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown.

Despite this, a senior US defense official told journalists: "We continue to believe that Congress will provide that support and we are planning based on that conviction."

US assistance has not been halted, and there is still previously authorized aid to draw on.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages "have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine."

In addition to domestic US political opposition to continued aid, the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas –- and an accompanying spike in attacks on US forces in the Middle East –- has drawn international attention away from Ukraine.

The United States insists that it can provide assistance to both countries.

"On the issue of whether there is a competition or trade-off between US support for Ukraine's defense of its country and Israel's defense of its people, there is not," a senior US defense official said.

"There is some overlap, but where there is overlap in certain kinds of ammunition ... there is no reduction in the provision of capabilities to Ukraine," the official added.

'Work to do'

Austin's visit comes after Kyiv announced it had pushed Russian forces back several kilometers from the banks of the Dnipro River.

That would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv's forces months into a disappointing counter-offensive.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

"We have a lot of work to do," Ukrainian army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk said Sunday.

A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could allow a deeper offensive in the south and offer protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling.

The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded in February 2022 and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.

Ukraine's supporters have also provided training for Kyiv's troops, while the United States and other countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia, including on financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports.

Assurances from Germany

Berlin, the second-biggest supplier of military assistance to Kyiv after the United States, has also sought to offer reassurances after the shift in focus to the Middle East war prompted concerns about waning support for Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday for an unannounced visit to reaffirm Berlin's backing for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's troops.

Pistorius arrived by train and was due to hold talks with Umerov as well as with Zelenskyy, besides taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Kyiv's Maidan square and visiting a military training center.

After some initial hesitation, Germany drastically ramped up its support for Ukraine in the wake of Russia's invasion and has delivered a huge array of armaments to Kyiv, ranging from heavy battle tanks to air defense systems and ammunition.