Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on Wednesday morning at a precarious moment in the nation’s defense against the Russian invasion.
The visit comes as the Biden administration struggles to curtail aid to Russia from Iran, North Korea and China, and as the U.S. presidential elections loom over the conflict.
Mr. Blinken stepped off a private overnight train from Poland that also carried his British counterpart, David Lammy. The two men are scheduled to meet throughout the day with Ukrainian officials, including the country’s new top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, who was appointed last Thursday by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as part of a major overhaul of the government’s top ranks.
The joint visit by Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lammy was aimed at presenting a strong show of solidarity for Ukraine — a message to both Mr. Zelensky and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, as well as the rest of the world.
While both men have made comments in recent months theoretically indicating an openness to negotiating a settlement to the over 30-month full-scale war begun by Moscow, Mr. Putin’s vision of a reconstituted Russian empire is untenable to Ukraine, and U.S. officials say he has shown no signs of wanting to reach a peace agreement. Mr. Putin’s grand invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a continuation of his annexation of Crimea and military offensive in eastern Ukraine that began in 2014.
Mr. Zelensky said last month that his multiphase plan for peace involves forcing Russia to end the war on terms that are “fair” to Ukraine.
The first debate between former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took place in the middle of the night during the train ride. A few passengers on Mr. Blinken’s train stayed up to watch at least the start of the debate, after a few sips of wine, but most scrambled online in the morning to read assessments of the televised event.
Officials in Ukraine were no doubt tracking the debate as well: Mr. Trump, who admires Mr. Putin, has rallied a significant number of Republican politicians to oppose U.S. military aid to Ukraine, while Ms. Harris has vowed to continue the Biden administration’s policies of supporting the besieged country.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has made a surprising incursion into the Russian region Kursk and managed to hold onto captured territory, lifting morale in Ukraine. But that offensive has failed to divert Russian units from their onslaught in eastern Ukraine, where they continue to make small gains.
Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lammy are expected to listen to entreaties from Ukrainian officials for permission for the Ukrainian military to use American and British weapons for strikes deep into Russian territory. In May, the Biden administration gave Ukraine permission to use U.S. weapons for shorter cross-border attacks against Russian sites being used in an offensive against the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Since then, U.S. officials have allowed the Ukrainian military to make that kind of shorter strike at other places along the border.
Mr. Blinken said in an interview with Sky News on Tuesday that the Biden administration had to take complex factors into account when making such decisions, but did not rule out giving more latitude to Ukraine.
“We’ve adapted and adjusted every step along the way, and we’ll continue — so not ruling out at this stage,” he said. “We don’t. We never rule out. But when we rule in, we want to make sure it’s done in such a way that it can advance what the Ukrainians are trying to achieve.”
Mr. Blinken and Mr. Lammy said at a news conference in London on Tuesday that Iran had shipped short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, confirming earlier news reports based on U.S. and European officials’ assessments. They said they were coordinating on actions to take against Iran and Russia. The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday announced details of sanctions they were imposing against 10 individuals and six entities, as well as four vessels.
“It is definitely a significant escalation,” by Iran, Mr. Lammy said. Iranian officials have denied they made any such shipment.
Until now, Iran has mainly been supplying Russia with drones, while North Korea has been providing artillery shells. The Biden administration says Chinese companies are selling factory machine tools and microelectronics to Russia to help it rebuild its arms production industry.
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