US offers new $2 billion aid to Ukraine; Putin hails advances on 'all fronts'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (May 15) announced that the United States will provide Ukraine with an additional $2 billion in foreign military financing as he concluded a two-day visit to the war-ravaged nation.

He also said that the US was working to immediately send more ammunition and weapons to the front lines to help Ukrainians in their fight against Russia.

His visit came after Russia opened a new front in the war, which started in February 2022. Russia began a ground incursion into the northeastern Kharkiv region and has intensified the attacks in the past couple of days.

At a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Blinken said, "We will provide an additional $2 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine."

He said that the US has put this together in a "first-of-its-kind defence enterprise fund", and it has three components. He explained that the first is to provide weapons today so that it will assist Ukraine in acquiring those weapons. Secondly, he highlighted the importance of investing in Ukraine's defence industrial base.

Blinken stated that it will help to strengthen its capacity to produce what the nation needs for itself but also to produce for others. Finally, Ukraine can purchase military equipment from other countries, not just the US, using this fund.

Watch:Russia unleashes new attacks on Ukraine's Kherson

Putin hails Russian advances

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his country's troops for advancing on "all fronts" on the battlefield in Ukraine, days after Moscow launched a major new ground assault.

"In all directions our troops are constantly, every day, improving their positions," Putin told Russia's military leaders, including new Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, in a televised meeting.

The Russian president held his first public meeting with Belousov, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in his new role as Security Council chief and other government army officials.

He said that the Russian soldiers are "improving their position" along the "entire frontline" in Ukraine. Putin stresses that "whoever is quicker to master the newest means of armed combat wins".

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(With inputs from agencies)