US top diplomat Blinken visits Ukraine to offer new military aid

Blinken’s second visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia's February invasion comes as Ukraine reported progress in its effort to retake territory seized by Russia near Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

Blinken met Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, saw U.S. diplomats, and visited a children's hospital, where he met youngsters injured from Russian bombardments.

A State Department official said approximately $1 billion would be allocated to Ukraine.

The rest would be divided among Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The money is intended to defend sovereignty, modernize security forces, enhance partnerships with transatlantic military alliance NATO, and strengthen capacity "to counter Russian influence and aggression," the official said by email.

The aid comes in the form of U.S. grants and loans that enable countries to purchase weapons and defence equipment made in the United States. It requires U.S. Congress to be notified.

Biden also approved a separate $675 million in weapons to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced earlier on Thursday as ministers met in Germany to discuss how to support Ukraine long-term.

The latest tranche of weapons will include more ammunitions, Humvees and anti-tank systems, officials said.

The latest aid brings total U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the official said.

Blinken had travelled to Poland with reporters but officials did not allow media to accompany him into Ukraine, citing security reasons.

By Sergiy Voloshyn and Simon Lewis

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, William Maclean, Andrew Cawthorne)