On Tuesday, May 14, US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Kyiv, where he played guitar in an underground bar alongside a band, performing Rockin' In The Free World. ‘The United States is with you, and so is most of the world. They are fighting not only for Ukraine but for a free world. And the free world is also with you,’ he said. This marks Blinken's fourth visit since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and the first after Congress allocated a long-awaited aid package to Ukraine. Prior to this, Blinken visited Kyiv in September of last year. Apostrophe examined the reasons behind the US Secretary of State's visit.
Take a closer look
In American media, Blinken's visit is closely linked to the Russian advance in the Kharkiv region. Indeed, the US Secretary of State emphasized that part of the aid has already arrived in Ukraine, with even larger quantities to follow. However, these are agreements that were reached earlier.
‘Indeed, the United States is quite clear in stating that Russia won't break through the defense in the Kharkiv region. They reaffirm their support and mention the significant amount of weapons and new aid packages being sent to Ukraine. However, this was expected, as the aid package for 2024 was designed for the entire year, and now there's an urgency to absorb it all rapidly,’ Oleksandr Leonov, executive director of the Penta applied political research center, tells Apostrophe.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky seized the opportunity of the face-to-face meeting to once again emphasize that Ukraine needs assistance urgently.
‘We extensively discussed the situation on the battlefield, the support for our soldiers, and further defense cooperation. In particular, we talked about the Patriot systems for Ukraine, to protect our cities and communities, such as Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region,’ Zelensky posted.
‘It is important for the United States to understand Ukraine's operational strategy in the near future,’ noted Vladyslav Faraponov, the head of the American Studies Institute.
‘Partially, I can agree with the opinion of Western media. Because for all of his visits to Ukraine, they are characterized by the aim of understanding how the nature of the war is changing. And the second point is to understand what Ukraine will do in this case,’ noted Vladyslav Faraponov. ‘Why is this being done? To lay the groundwork now and then prepare as best as possible to help Ukraine. That is, hypothetically, if Ukraine is considering options for withdrawing from certain settlements, what this will ultimately mean in the coming months. And Anthony Blinken, thanks to his diplomacy and strong personal ties in Ukraine, needs to find this out.’
Coordinating efforts
Another component of Anthony Blinken's visit is to coordinate positions ahead of a series of major international meetings.
‘This includes the Peace Summit, the NATO Summit in Washington, and the G7 Summit, where quite serious issues will be discussed, such as what to do with Russian frozen assets. And it seems to me that a large number of consultations also relate to these matters regarding the finalization of previous agreements,’ emphasizes Oleksandr Leonov.
The G7 Summit will take place in Italy from June 13-15. Among a host of global issues, the confiscation of Russian assets won't be the key one, but it's the most crucial for Ukraine. According to the Financial Times, full confiscation is not even being discussed anymore. Therefore, G7 leaders will need to decide on which mechanism to use instead. The most realistic one is using percentages from frozen Russian assets. Recently, the US has been pushing a new idea: allocating around $50 billion in funding for Ukraine through a loan or bonds backed by future proceeds from frozen assets.
Right after the G7, a global Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16 is expected to draw participation from several dozen countries. The level of representation is a crucial question—whether it will be heads of state, foreign ministers, or simply ambassadors attending the summit—will demonstrate the attitude of each country towards the Ukrainian initiative. President Zelensky has already stated that he would like to see Joe Biden at the summit.
‘The Biden administration can actually help both in terms of image and organization because they themselves organized the Summit for Democracy (a virtual summit hosted by the US on December 9-10, 2021, aimed at renewing democracy within countries and countering autocracy abroad. It gathered 111 participants - Apostrophe). And this idea was initiated by President Biden himself. So, this special attention from the United States is simply necessary,’ emphasizes Vladyslav Faraponov.
For Ukraine, the main question at the NATO Summit on July 9-11 remains further cooperation when full membership is not on the table. Negotiations in this direction are a separate story altogether.
Despite assistance in the diplomatic sphere, the main priority for the near future remains arms and ammunition. It is precisely regarding these items that Blinken's public statements in Kyiv provide some grounds for cautious optimism.
