Senior US officials meet with delegation from Kyiv amid congressional disputes
Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, and Rustem Umierov, Ukrainian Defence Minister, met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington.
Source: Office of the President of Ukraine; Ministry of Defence of Ukraine
Details: In addition, Yermak met with US Secretary of Defenсe Lloyd Austin together with Umierov, and spoke with Republican senators together with Stefanchuk.
With both Blinken and Sullivan, the three representatives of Ukraine discussed the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's current defence needs. They also discussed security guarantees and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula.
Yermak expressed hope to Blinken that a substantive discussion of the US proposals for a bilateral agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine would begin soon.
In a conversation with Sullivan, it was said that it is urgent to strengthen Ukraine's air defence to protect civilian infrastructure and the grain corridor in the Black Sea from attacks by Russian missiles and drones during the cold weather.
With Austin, Umierov and Yermak also talked about the situation on the battlefield and the need for armoured vehicles, mine clearance combat vehicles, artillery systems and ammunition for them, as well as long-range missiles and combat aircraft.
Special attention was paid to the need to develop a system of fortifications.
Representatives of Ukraine also stressed the importance of strengthening Ukraine's air defence to protect cities, critical infrastructure, and grain corridor routes.
Umierov said that "the future of Ukraine is in NATO," so it is necessary to bring the Defence Forces in line with the principles and standards of the Alliance.
Yermak thanked Austin for the unprecedented defensive assistance provided by the United States to fight Russian aggression, which has already reached almost US$45 billion.
He also expressed hope that the Ukrainian-American Conference of Defence Industries, which took place in Washington on 5-6 December, "will become a starting point in the beginning of active bilateral military-technical cooperation".
This conference was also attended by Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine, and President Zelenskyy addressed its participants in video mode.
"We will provide all the necessary assistance to American businesses that express their readiness to come to Ukraine," Yermak promised Austin.
"We need a strong defensive coalition to join forces in the fight against Russian terror," Umierov added.
In addition, during their visit to the United States, Yermak and Stefanchuk met with Republican senators Roger Wicker, Jim Risch, Suzanne Collins, Joni Ernst, John Thune, and Markwayne Mullin.
Background:
- On 6 December, the draft law on providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan failed a procedural vote in the US Senate.
- At the same time, the White House announced strengthening cooperation between the US-Ukraine military-industrial complexes and joint production of weapons.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not able to speak at a planned briefing of senators because of the war in Ukraine, and the constantly changing situation.
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