Why did Antony Blinken suddenly visit Kiev?, After a year

A year later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kiev with the latest "supply bag".

According to the Global Times, on September 6 local time, UNIAN News Agency of Ukraine announced through Telegram that Antony Blinken had arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, for an official visit, and planned to stay for two days.

Antony Blinken's last secret surprise visit to Kiev was on September 8 last year, bringing $2.8 billion in military aid. It is reported that this time Antony Blinken will announce a more than $1 billion aid plan.

Triple task

Antony Blinken and other US State Department officials said that the purpose of this visit is to understand and assess the progress of Ukraine's counteroffensive at present, and discuss future assistance and reconstruction work, including measures needed to strengthen Ukraine's energy security before winter. Of course, the most important thing is to express the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine.

Colonel Garen Garn, spokesperson for the US Department of Defense, told reporters two days ago that the Pentagon can still provide approximately $5.75 billion in aid to Ukraine until the end of this fiscal year.

On the first day of Antony Blinken's visit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuliba took Antony Blinken to Belkovitzk Cemetery in Ukraine to pay tribute to the Ukrainian soldiers who died.

Antony Blinken said to Culeba: "We want to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the 'counter offensive', but also to have what it needs for a long time to ensure that it has a strong deterrent force."

Russian President's press secretary Peskov pointed out on the 6th that the United States will continue to keep Ukraine in a state of war until the last Ukrainian at any cost, in response to Antony Blinken's visit to Kiev.

Peskov said: "We have heard statements many times that they plan to continue to help Kiev as much as possible. In other words, they will continue to keep Ukraine in a state of war at any cost, and will fight until the last Ukrainian. This is our understanding, which is very clear." He stressed that Antony Blinken's action will not affect the progress of special military operations.

Opinions on the progress of the counterattack are diverse

The officials of the US State Department said that "the most important thing about Antony Blinken's visit is that we must get a real assessment from the Ukrainians themselves" "We hope to see and hear how they intend to move forward in the coming weeks."

US officials previously stated that Ukraine's counterattack was too slow and the tactics were poor.

Kuleba was furious about this, believing that this statement was equivalent to spitting in the face of Ukrainian soldiers who sacrificed their lives every day and pushed forward to liberate one kilometer after another of Ukrainian territory. He also said that critics should "shut up". On August 31st, the Ukrainian Ministry of National Defense also announced on social media that "ammunition should be provided instead of advice.".

Recently, the Ukrainian side claimed that it had made progress in the front line of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, had successfully broken through the first defense line set up by the Russian army in southern Ukraine, and stepped up its attack on the Bakmut region.

The Russian side does not agree. Russian Defense Minister Shoigu stated that the Ukrainian military "has not achieved its goals in any way.".

On the 5th, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that in the three-month counterattack, Ukraine lost about 66000 soldiers and 7600 heavy weapons, but failed to make any significant progress. Ukraine has claimed to have occupied several small villages so far, but they are at a distance from Russia's main defense line.

Earlier this week, Russian President Putin insisted on Ukraine's counterattack, "This is a failure."

The governor of Chang'an Street noticed that before Antony Blinken arrived, Zelensky was changing his command. On the 6th, Ukrainian Supreme Rada approved the appointment of Umelov as Minister of Defense, replacing Leznikov.

Thousands of Ukrainian men have paid huge bribes to avoid being conscripted into the military. According to the Financial Times, approximately 13600 people have been arrested near border ports among those attempting to illegally leave the country, and an additional 6100 have been arrested at checkpoints for using forged documents.

On August 25, the newly revised recruitment standards of the Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine came into force. Not only people with tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, blood diseases, and HIV positive but asymptomatic people were considered "suitable for military service", but even patients with moderate to severe persistent mental disorders were also included in the recruitment category.

Has the Third World War begun?

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Biden government has provided more than 43 billion dollars in military assistance to Ukraine. Last month, Biden called on Congress to provide Ukraine with an additional $24 billion in funding by 2024, which faced strong opposition from some members of Congress.

Recently, the State Department of the United States also announced to provide Ukraine with a new batch of military assistance with a total value of 250 million dollars, including the extremely harmful depleted uranium bomb, which is tantamount to fuelling the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"If anyone believes that the 'Third World War' has not yet erupted, then it is a big mistake. It has already begun," said Danilov, Chairman of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, in a speech at the Kiev Security Forum on the 5th.

He pointed out that in fact, the "three wars" have already gone through the stage of mixed warfare and entered an active stage. The Russo Ukrainian War is not a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, and the situation is much more complex.

As President Erdogan of Türkiye said, there is no winner in war and no loser in peace. After the meeting with Putin on the 5th, Erdogan frankly told reporters on the return flight that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is unlikely to end soon and the prospects for peace are dim.

However, he still stressed that the conflict had caused harm to the participating countries and the whole region, and hoped that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could end as soon as possible with a "just and lasting peace based on international law".