Blinken: "We have not authorised strikes outside Ukraine, but it is up to Ukraine to decide"
Secretary of State promised to sign an agreement on security guarantees with Ukraine in the near future
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is on a visit to Ukraine, said that Washington and Kyiv will sign a bilateral agreement on security guarantees in the coming weeks.
According to him, "the hard work of preparing the agreement has already been completed".
"I think we will soon finalise the text of the agreement. (...) I believe we will be able to sign this agreement in a few weeks," Blinken said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv.
According to the US Secretary of State, the agreement will provide assistance to Ukraine for the next decade.
"The United States remains committed to ensuring that Ukraine wins this war, and I think we've demonstrated that through the extraordinary support that we've provided and continue to provide," Blinken said.
"We have neither encouraged nor authorised strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make its own decisions about how it wages this war. The war is being fought to defend its freedom, its sovereignty, its territorial integrity," the US Secretary of State said, "and we will continue to support Ukraine with the equipment it needs to succeed, to win.
Blinken also confirmed that the US is focused on sending Patriot missile systems and other critical air defence equipment to Ukraine.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that the US is considering sending another Patriot battery to Kyiv along with radars.
Ukraine is counting on US President Joe Biden's participation in the Global Peace Summit, which is to take place on 15-16 June in Switzerland.
Blinken and Kuleba reportedly discussed every Patriot system "on the horizon". Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were at the centre of the talks with Blinken, the Foreign Minister said.
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