U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that more aid is urgently needed for Ukraine following meetings with NATO foreign ministers, amid growing concerns that Russia is building up its defense industrial base with support from China, North Korea and Iran.
“Based on what I heard today ... everyone, including the United States, is going to double back and, as necessary, double down on finding the resources that Ukraine continues to need,” Blinken told reporters after meetings with NATO foreign ministers at the alliance headquarters in Brussels.
While individual NATO members have been providing arms to Ukraine, the organization as a whole has concentrated on providing nonlethal aid for fear of escalating tensions with Russia through a more direct involvement.
“More than 30 countries now have signed or are in the process of negotiating signing bilateral agreements with Ukraine, and we're ourselves, the United States, working on our own bilateral agreement,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Blinken met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, where the two discussed the situation on the battlefield and ways to bolster Ukraine’s energy sector in light of continued attacks from Russia.
The United States will host a NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to July 11. Blinken discussed priorities for the meeting with Kuleba as NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary.
“Ukraine will become a member of NATO,” Blinken said. “Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward.”
During Thursday's press conference, Blinken also underlined the urgency of the U.S. congressional action to vote on aid for Ukraine.
Congress has yet to approve the Biden administration’s supplementary budget request that would resupply Ukraine’s armed forces and help the country fend off Russian offensives.
President Joe Biden has called on the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives to approve the military and financial aid package. House Republicans have delayed action on it for months, prioritizing domestic issues.
On Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat held talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on how to bolster the alliance’s long-term military support for Ukraine.
This week, NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss a proposal for creating a five-year fund, totaling about $108 billion, to support Ukraine's military.
The plan, put forward by Stoltenberg, includes making NATO more directly involved in coordinating military assistance provided by member countries — a role that has been filled by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 50 countries.
A final decision on the proposal would not come until the NATO summit in July. It requires consensus among its 32 members.
On Thursday, foreign ministers from the security bloc also met with its partners from the Indo-Pacific.
“North Korea, China, Iran are supporting Russia’s war of aggression in different ways, so this demonstrates that security is not regional security, it’s truly global, and therefore it’s important that we work together with our Asia-Pacific partners,” Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
