Top US official visits Ukraine, reassures Zelensky of continued deadly weapons supply
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has visited Ukraine and reaffirmed Washington's military support for Ukraine during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital Kiev.
Sherman led a delegation to Kiev on Monday and also met with members of Zelensky's presidential office, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and other senior Ukrainian officials, discussing sustained defense support to Kiev.
The visit came amid Russia's warning against Western intervention and fanning the flames of war in Ukraine.
The purpose of the visit is "to reaffirm the United States' strong and steadfast commitment to Ukraine and its defense," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
Price also said that the US delegation "heard from young Ukrainians who have adapted their businesses and advocacy to support their fellow citizens even as they look ahead to Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction."
Russia has warned that the West's plan to supply Ukraine with heavy weaponry will only escalate the war and causes more civilian casualties.
Sherman's visit comes few weeks after Zelensky traveled to the US to meet with his American counterpart Joe Biden and to secure more weapons as fighting escalates in the country.
During the visit, Biden pledged to further step up military support, including a new missile system, for Ukraine, despite Moscow's warning that delivery of such weapons to Kiev would only prolong the war and intensify the suffering of Ukrainian people.
Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, Western countries, specially the US and the UK, have supplied Ukraine with a raft of lethal arm supplies, ignoring Russia's warning against fanning the flames of war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia.
Moscow says it started its 'Special Military Operation' in February, aiming to to defend the pro-Russian population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against persecution by Kiev, and also to "de-Nazify" its neighbor.
Russia maintains that the West's anti-Russian agendas, including its eagerness for inclusion of Ukraine in NATO -- and, therefore, the military alliance's expansion right up to Russia's borders -- have forced Moscow to react against Kiev.
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