Blinken Pledges $1B More for Ukraine, Including $300M for Law Enforcement

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged $1 billion more for Ukraine while in Kyiv on Wednesday, saying the United States is “determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with the country in its ongoing war with Russia.

“We are determined in the United States to continue to walk side-by-side with you,” Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting on Monday. He added:

President Biden asked me to come, to reaffirm strongly our support, to ensure that we are maximizing the efforts that we’re making and other countries are making for the immediate challenge of the counteroffensive as well as the longer-term efforts to help Ukraine build a force for the future that can deter and defend against any future aggression, but also to work with you and support you as you engage in the critical work of strengthening your democracy, rebuilding your economy.

The money included $175 million in military assistance, another $100 million for “longer-term military needs”; $206 million for humanitarian aid; and $300 million to support “law enforcement efforts to restore and maintain law and order in liberated areas,” Blinken said.

He noted the U.S. pledged $520 million a few months ago to help Ukraine rebuild its energy infrastructure, although it was not clear if that money was included in the $1 billon that Blinken announced Monday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to experience heightened crime in major cities compared to 2019, according to a recent study.

According to the Council on Criminal Justice, homicide rates are 24 percent higher in the first half of 2023 than in the first half of 2023.

“The United States is committed to empowering Ukraine to write its own future. In the crucible of President Putin’s brutal and ongoing war, the United States and Ukraine have forged a partnership that is stronger than ever and growing every day. We will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side,” Blinken said after a meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister.

Blinken also said the Ukraine War was a fight “we must and will win.”

“Now, we have no illusions that the path forward will be easy, but this is a fight that we must and we will win for any country threatened by bullies or would-be aggressors, for all who seek a future of security and peace,” he said.

Blinken’s trip was partly aimed at shoring up American support at home for Ukraine, as the Biden administration seeks Congress’s support to commit another $24 billion, which would bring total U.S. support up to $135 billion by the end of the year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba argued that U.S. support to Ukraine was “not charity.”

“Military aid that is provided to Ukraine and financial aid and other types of – these are not charity. I would like to underline this one more time. The – this is the most – this is the most profitable investment into the security of Europe and Euro-Atlantic space and the whole world. Today, Ukraine, with the support of partners, we hold the advance of Russia to – we make them to decline their – imposing their will on other countries,” he argued.

“And besides, we are not putting any American soldiers’ life under the threat. It’s our people who are fighting, using and employing specifically weapons systems of our partners. We never asked to send the U.S. troops to Ukraine, and we are not going to ask this. But we truly need support in this fight, and this support is also recognition of this mission that Ukraine carries out in global history context.”

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