Pentagon chief Austin affirms US commitment during trip to Kyiv, vows more military aid

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who arrived in Kyiv by train from Poland on Monday, assured the leadership of Ukraine and Ukrainians of continued American support in their defensive war against Russia, "despite mounting opposition by Republicans in Congress and battlefield setbacks against Russian troops." The Washington Post reports, citing anonymous companions of the Pentagon chief on this trip.

Despite all these problems, the newspaper's sources assured, Washington will be able to continue sending aid, including longer-range weapons and artillery ammunition, "at least for some time."

A senior US Defense Department official claims that the needs of Israel and Ukraine in their wars against Palestinian militants and Russian occupation forces, respectively, have "some overlap," but even with that in mind, " there is no reduction in provision of capabilities [to support either ally]."

In addition to the visit to reassure support, Pentagon officials also hope to "learn more during their visit from Ukrainian leaders about how their strategy against Russia will evolve now that winter is setting in."

They expect Moscow to use the cold season to regroup and launch strikes on Ukrainian power plants and other civilian infrastructure, as it did last winter.

Austin met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

This is the second visit of the head of the Pentagon to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The previous trip was on April 24, 2022.

He believes that the US needs to communicate with its enemies and emphasized the need to maintain communication channels with Russia even now.

At the end of October 2023, Austin requested $44 billion to support Ukraine.

This week, on Wednesday, the 17th meeting of allies and partners of Ukraine in the format of the anti-Putin coalition "Ramstein" will take place.