U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Kyiv on an official visit on May 6, said that the U.S. will consider Ukraine's request for new weapons, as he stated in an exclusive interview for Radio Liberty. The remarks made by Antony Blinken were also published by the press service of the U.S. Department of State.
"Well, we, of course, will look at any and every request. And the main thing is that our Pentagon, our Defense Department, is the main partner for Ukraine. And it is, as we speak, looking at what additional assistance, beyond the very significant assistance that we’ve already provided, including equipment, would be helpful to Ukraine right now. That’s a very active consideration," Blinken said.
It is worth adding that Washington's provision of new weapons to the Ukrainian army has been repeatedly announced by Ukrainian officials. Thus, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Kyiv would ask Washington for additional air defense systems and anti-sniper technologies. Meanwhile, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that the U.S. could place its Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukraine.
In an interview, Antony Blinken said that Russia will feel the consequences if it decides to deteriorate further its relations with Ukraine and will continue its aggressive politics.
"Well, the most important thing to do is what we’re doing, which is to make sure that that doesn’t happen, that Russia does not make a very unfortunate decision to engage in any further aggression or reckless actions when it comes to Ukraine, which is exactly why we have spoken up very clearly when we saw this concentration of forces, why we’ve worked closely with all of our leading partners around the world, including at NATO and the European Union, so that everyone was very focused on this and was making it very clear to Moscow that we were looking and watching very carefully, and that if any action was taken, it would not be without consequences. And at the same time, we’re working very closely with our partners here in Ukraine, as I said, to make sure that they have the means necessary to defend Ukraine, defend its territory, defend its people," Blinken said.