As US public support for the war in Ukraine wanes

their

The battle to wipe out Russian forces is moving slowly, says top US diplomat on drama-filled mission to reassure

the

doubters and brace a united front.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Antony J. Blinken, I

n an unannounced trip to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital,

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken

recognized on Wednesday the critical moment facing Ukraine

both

in the fight against Russia and in building a post-war future. But he said he had “tremendous confidence” that the stakes for Ukraine were too high for it to fail.

As if to underline the persistent

deadly

Danger

S

At least 16 people were killed in Russian shelling at a market in the eastern town of Kostiantynivka

Wednesday

and more than 20 others were injured, Ukrainian officials said. That’s what the Associated Press told reporters

in places

saw bodies covered with blankets

scattered on the ground

as emergency workers put out fires along rows of market stalls.

And just hours before Blinken arrived in Kiev from Poland on an overnight train, Russian cruise missile attacks on the capital, which was relatively safe for most of the war, killed at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.

The State Department said Blinken’s trip, his fourth to Ukraine since the start of the war and withheld from the public until after he reached Kiev, was to assess the progress of the counter-offensive Ukraine launched this summer and to future needs and reconstruction plans. energy, humanitarian recovery and

reconstruction

Ukraine’s war-torn economy.

The timing of the Blinken visit comes at a politically sensitive time on both the domestic and international fronts of the US and is widely seen as an urgent step to rally support for what has become the unplanned and unwanted centerpiece of the administration’s foreign policy. -Biden has become.

Zelensky replaces Ukraine’s defense minister after 18 months of war

U.S. officials have expressed concern about declining interest in

and if not outright

opposition to

the war that supporters consider necessary to a

n stable

illegal land grabbing by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

We want to make sure Ukraine gets what it needs, not just to succeed on the counter-offensive, but also what it needs for the long term, to make sure it has a strong deterrent, Blinken said ahead of a meeting of

Ukrainian

President Volodymyr Zelensky. We are also committed to continuing to work with our partners in building and rebuilding a strong economy

, [and]

strong democracy.

Flash

on Wednesday

announced a $1 billion package of new US aid

,

which he said would include training in the US for Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighter jets. Multiple

European countries that are members of NATO

European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization pledge to donate their fighter jets to Ukraine after obtaining permission from the US.

In the US, several hardline Republican politicians have done just that

started to

ask

the wisdom of

continued aid to Ukraine, which in more than 18 months of fighting has yielded more than $43 billion in distributed and promised weapons, including tanks, air defense systems and

even

controversial cluster bombs.

A Biden A

Government officials are stressing that these votes are coming in

the A

minority and that bi

–

Partisan support remains strong.

Perhaps even more significant is a decline in the US public’s positive view of Ukraine.

According to In athe last

CNN poll published last month

. In the

48% of

those who responded to the public

Sat

idys

the US “needs to do more to stop Russian military actions in Ukraine”, while 51% said the US “has already done enough”. Although that is a fairly even distribution,

in the same poll last year, another poll conducted by CNN

shortly after the start of the war

last year found that completely

two-thirds of

respondents

said the US should do more to help Ukraine.

What happens to his mercenary army after the death of the Russian Wagner chief?

Doubts come to the fore

The United States

presidential elections

S

next year, and with a potentially brutal Ukraine winter just looming on the horizon. In addition to complicating the battlefield

S

maneuvers, a harsh winter

could be

take one

n significantly acute

great if Russia repeats its tactics from last year, including bombing critical Ukrainian infrastructure

destructive that destroyed

electrical networks and heating systems.

Over there

isare

international urgency

Yes

also. The Biden administration hopes to strengthen the large, but not universal, coalition of countries that support Ukraine.

This weekend the leaders of the world’s top economies will meet

want to

Meet

this weekend

in india,

to measure

Ukraine

will also be so

an important topic

although there is no unanimous agreement

. Russia and its sometimes ally China are represented in the Group

20Twenty

and countries

includinglike

host nation India has expressed reservations about supporting the Ukrainians.

It is a challenge to reach absolute consensus on a declaration on Ukraine.

Biden’s National Security Adviser,

Jake Sullivan, Chairman

Biden’s National Security Adviser,

said this week.

Putin says there will be no new grain deal with Ukraine until the West meets his demands

Biden wants to attend the summit, but neither does Putin

,

indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, and China’s Xi Jinping will not attend.

Even more important is the annual United Nations General Assembly to be held in New York this month. Although the body last year with a

big huge

margin to condemn Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, part of that solidarity f

to get lost

etc., especially in the so-called Global South

,

countries in Latin America and Africa

datwho

have economic or historical ties with Russia,

or

WHO

are simply reluctant to get involved in a war that they feel does not concern them.

With the wedge potentially widening, Russia is receiving arms

(mostly drones)

from Iran and seeking

material of military equipment

from North Korea, according to US intelligence officials. Although China is friendly with the Kremlin, it has not yet delivered major weapons to Moscow, US officials say.

“We are in that ‘back-to-school’ phase: everyone is coming together… for the UN General Assembly [and] The Ukrainians have an important mission in New York to continue to explain to their allies and partners around the world what is going on and their continued need for support,” said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters who Blinken traveled.

and spoke anonymously in accordance with department protocols.

“And it’s important for us to continue to lead that global effort to support them. And so it’s very, very important to have the opportunity to confer and get aligned before we get to New York.”

The official spoke anonymously, in accordance with department protocols.

Ukraine’s long-anticipated counter-offensive got off to a slow start

,

often in vain

,

to break through heavily fortified Russian lines

, trigger. This triggered

There are more doubts about the country’s ability to gain the upper hand against a much larger foe. Confidence was further damaged when Zelensky abruptly fired his defense minister last week.

In recent weeks, US and UK military analysts said:

Ukraine is starting to gain ground

in recent weeks, American and British military analysts say:

take back several

Ukrainian

villages that Russia had taken and breached a number of Russian defensive positions.

Blinken cited these gains at a press conference late Wednesday when asked what he had learned that could convince Americans that this is a

fight

worth fighting.

“In the current counter-offensive, we have seen real progress in recent weeks,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to maximize our support to Ukraine as the country pursues the counter-offensive. … Ukrainians are fighting for their own country, for their own future, for their own freedom. The Russians don’t. And that gives me tremendous confidence that Ukraine will prevail.”

On the same question,

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba,

who has joined

Flash

atin

said the press conference

in response to the same question

he believed American politicians across the board understood that the war was not “just about Ukraine.”

It’s not about the future of Ukraine, it’s about the future of the world, and we must defend this world together, Kuleba said. If the West cannot win this war, what is the war the West can win?

although

it is this is

Blinken’s fourth visit

to Ukraine

, it is the first in which he will spend the night in the country. In addition to meeting Zelensky and other officials, he attended a mental health program

the

Ukrainian

ff

first

ll

bye

,

Olena Zelenska, and laid a wreath in memory at the Berkovetske cemetery

by

members of the armed forces killed defending the country.

Blinken and Kuleba later stopped at a McDonald’s, held up as a symbol of businesses quickly returning to Kiev after Russia launched its invasion as a sign of solidarity and resilience. The two men ordered fries.