Blinken visits Kyiv after Russia stand-off
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday (May 6) and re-affirmed commitments to the bilateral partnership between the two countries.
Blinken is also expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, mixing solidarity with calls for Ukraine to stick to a path of reforms and fighting corruption, days after a reformist energy official was sacked.
Biden pledged "unwavering support" to Zelenskiy in April as Kyiv and Moscow traded blame for clashes in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region and Russia deployed troops and weapons to the border.
Moscow announced a withdrawal of its forces on April 22, helping pave the way for a summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could take place as early as June.
Washington has been Kyiv's most powerful backer since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of the Donbass conflict between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian-backed separatist forces that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people in seven years.
