In the first visit to Kiev by a senior US official under President Joe Biden, Blinken opened the day by meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and underscoring the need for greater reforms, even as he showed support against Moscow.
Kuleba told Blinken that Kiev "deeply appreciates" the US aid Ukraine has received to support its battle in the east against pro-Russian separatists, who are widely seen as having the Kremlin's military and political backing.
Blinken will also meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has renewed calls to speed up Ukraine's entry into the NATO alliance in the face of fears about Russia.
He will also join Metropolitan Yepifaniy, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in laying flowers at a memorial to soldiers killed in the eastern Donbas region.
Kostyantyn Yeliseev, a former ambassador to the EU who founded the New Solutions Сentre think tank, said that Blinken could lay the foundations for a visit by Zelensky to the White House.
For an optimal experience, please
