Zelensky Thanks Americans For Billions In Aid, But Pleads For More Patriot Systems

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made another trip to Ukraine, appearing in Kiev alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, and the US top diplomat vowed that some of the US aid from Biden’s recently approved $60 billion for Ukraine is “now on the way”.

But Zelensky immediately pivoted to begging for Patriot missiles amid Russia’s new Karkhiv assault, saying that “of course we are very thankful for this to Americans, to American people” but that “We need, really we need today two Patriots for Kharkiv, for Kharkiv region because people there are under attack, civilians and warriors, everybody there is under Russian missiles.” As we noted earlier of this perhaps awkward moment…

Ukraine has entered the “where is the money, Lebowski” phase https://t.co/llv6KOmUGb

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 14, 2024

Blinken did not say that Patriots are on the way, instead he simply offered: “We know this is a challenging time”… words which are unlikely to be of much comfort to Zelensky.

And even while there’s near universal consensus that Ukraine frontlines are crumbling especially in the north, Blinken claimed that the new military aid from Washington will “make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the battlefield.”

Blinken while in Kiev described that he is discussing “battlefield updates, the impact of new U.S. security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery.”

It marks his fourth unannounced trip to the war-ravaged country since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. But this particular trip is set amid more sober, bleaker Western media reports regarding Ukraine’s chances on the battlefield.

Late last month, the Pentagon said it was seeking to “rush” patriot missiles to Ukraine, amid an intensified Russian air campaign which has especially targeted Ukraine’s energy and power infrastructure, and which has left swathes of the country in darkness.

European countries have also been scrambling to rush Patriots to Ukraine, with Spain and Germany being the latest to donate.

Greece has also been under pressure to ‘do more’ with EU leaders recently lecturing Athens while claiming it doesn’t really need its own Patriots for self-defense at this moment. Greece has still ruled it out, likely with an eye on the Turkey threat in its own backyard.

Meanwhile cross-border attacks among both sides have been ongoing, with massive Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod city on the border having resulted in 16 Russian civilians killed after an apartment building was struck and collapsed.

The moment of the projectile’s impact and the collapse of the entrance of the building in Belgorod. pic.twitter.com/T5STi3wUl7

— Russian Market (@runews) May 12, 2024

Some reports have also said it was a Ukrainian missile, with sections of the building having collapsed upon projectile impact, and after as emergency services were on the scene.