On September 8, local time, US Secretary of State Blinken suddenly secretly visited Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and brought $2.8 billion in military aid. This is Blinken's second trip to Kiev after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and his fifth visit to Ukraine since he took office.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy held talks with Blinken on the same day. Zelenskiy said Blinken's visit was an important signal of U.S. support for Ukraine, for which he was grateful.
Why did Blinken visit Kiev in secret? What is the purpose of this trip? What impact will this have on the war situation in Russia and Ukraine?
The governor of Chang'an Avenue noticed that There were three peculiarities in Blinken's trip:
First, the behavior is special.
Unlike other countries, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Every visit to Kiev by Blinken was carried out in secret.
In April, he secretly traveled to Kiev by train with U.S. Defense Secretary Austin and met with Zelenskiy. Compared with Zelenskiy's high-profile trailer and Twitter photo, Blinken and his party not only kept security and itinerary secret, but also refused to follow the media.
After nearly 5 months, Blinken once again trekked 11 hours without "warning" and secretly arrived in Kiev by train, and the reporter accompanying him was also asked to stay in Poland.
In addition, the time of this meeting is also different from before. At the time of his visit in April, the meeting between Blinken and Austin with Zelenskiy, The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, the Defense Minister and other officials lasted nearly three hours, while the meeting between Blinken and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister lasted only 30 minutes.
In terms of itinerary, Blinken also met with American diplomats, visited a children's hospital, and gave dog food to the Ukrainian "net red" meritorious detective dog "Bullet", and took a group photo. If the last visit was to discuss things, then this time it is more like an inspection.
But it has to be said that the secret travel of the foreign minister of a superpower is itself an extremely rare move, and Blinken has done it twice in a row.
Although U.S. State Department and Pentagon officials have previously explained that the secret visit is for security considerations, and some analysts believe that the secret visit is to avoid further irritating the Russian side, in the final analysis, there is always an element of weakness of heart.
Blinken embraces a thunder dog. Image source: Visual China
Second, the timing is extraordinary.
At a time when The Ukrainian counteroffensive, when Blinken was secretly on his way to Kiev, Austin was gathering with allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany for a meeting to discuss support for Ukraine.
Shortly before the meeting began, Zelenskiy declared that the Ukrainian army had retaken from the Russians several settlements in the northeastern region of Kharkiv Oblast, as well as several villages in the south.
But CNN believes Zelenskiy is vague about whether the Ukrainian army will retake specific settlements. The Washington Post also gave the opposite description, reporting that the Kherson counteroffensive in Ukraine was estimated to have suffered heavy losses and numerous casualties. Now ukraine says "counter-offensive progress" and Russia says "nothing has been lost."
But the United States believes that is enough.
"The war in Ukraine is at another critical juncture ... Our joint efforts on the battlefield have been markedly successful. Austin took this opportunity to announce that the United States will provide Ukraine with $675 million worth of military equipment, including more high-precision ammunition for the Haimas multiple rocket launcher, 105mm howitzers, artillery ammunition, Hamm anti-radar missiles, anti-tank weapons, small arms, armored ambulances and so on.
But in fact, Ukraine wants heavy weapons the most, and has repeatedly made clear demands to Germany, but Germany has not answered this stubble. Germany said at the meeting that it would train Ukrainian soldiers to clear mines and prepare to send some power generation equipment to Ukraine to "fight together" in the cold.
Third, the purpose is special.
Blinken first came to "settle the account". According to Ukrainian official estimates, the cost of the war, combined with lower tax revenues, has led ukraine to a monthly fiscal deficit of $5 billion. At present, Ukraine has exhausted its existing Russian-made weapons and is completely dependent on Western military support.
The Ukrainian army stressed that only by increasing the distance of the long-range strike of Ukrainian missiles can they have a chance of winning.
So Blinken came with huge military aid from the Biden administration. A senior State Department official said in an interview that the new aid is aimed at strengthening Ukraine's strength, focusing on long-term aid "so that when the negotiation day comes, Ukraine can be in the strongest position." ”
Second, Blinken came to "oversee the war." Since Biden took office, U.S. military aid to Ukraine has reached about $15.2 billion. For the sake of this counteroffensive by the United States and Europe in Ukraine, real money and silver have been invested in it. As can be seen from Blinken's itinerary of his visits, he was anxious to get a full picture of the actual situation.
Did the Ukrainian army fight with all its might? Is there any resale of arms? What is the real situation? Will it be possible to organize an effective counterattack before winter comes? These problems required Blinken to come and see for himself.
In the end, Blinken also came to "provoke trouble". The Biden administration will provide $2.8 billion more in military aid to Ukraine and its neighbors, claiming that these countries are "at risk of further Russian invasion."
These European countries include Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania and others.
According to the U.S. State Department, $675 million worth of aid is directly to Ukraine; there will be $2.2 billion in long-term investment, of which about $1 billion will be given to Ukraine, and the rest will be allocated to the above European countries to strengthen their military integration with NATO to counter Russia and "contain the threat." The proposal is currently awaiting approval by the U.S. Congress.
Blinken met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kureba. Image source: Visual China
The governor of Chang'an Avenue noted that the US Department of Defense recently announced that it would provide "medium- and long-term" support to Ukraine, so the war is unlikely to end anytime soon. Next, the United States will continue to pour oil and hand over knives, and the days when Europe will be eaten by war will become more and more difficult.
As the American philosopher Chomsky put it, the United States prioritizes confrontation with Russia rather than defending Ukrainian lives. To weaken Russia, the United States is using all the means at its disposal to prevent diplomatic avenues from ending the war and to see how Putin will react.
Under the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Europe outside the battlefield is sinking deeper and deeper into the whirlpool of crisis, and the people will bear greater pressure on their lives this winter.