Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that his talks with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken focused on Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and discussed accelerating the supply of weapons to Kyiv and finding additional Patriot systems.
"When we talked about almost every issue, the focus was on Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. These are the most difficult areas of our frontline. And Tony's visit today is also a signal of support for our defenders. The United States is close by, help is coming, and this help will make our resistance more effective," Kuleba said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Kyiv on Wednesday, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
He also stressed that the key issue they discussed with Blinken was the speed of military aid delivery.
"Everything has to happen quickly. Weapons must arrive quickly so that we can disrupt Russia's offensive plans in Ukraine and prevent its aggressive plans for the rest of Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community," Kuleba added.
The Minister thanked Blinken for his efforts to find additional Patriot systems.
"We have gone through literally every system [Patriot] that is on the horizon that can be brought to Ukraine. And the Secretary of State is working with each relevant country, making great efforts to do so," the Foreign Minister said.
He reminded that Ukraine urgently needs a total of seven Patriot batteries, including two batteries "literally needed yesterday to protect the Kharkiv region".
"The city of Kharkiv and Kharkiv region are the focus of our efforts. To make the lives of Kharkiv residents safer, to hold our positions in the Kharkiv region under the onslaught of the Russians. There are opportunities to transfer Patriot to us, and we are all working hard to make it happen as soon as possible. I am glad that we are gradually approaching this goal, but we need to do it even faster," the Foreign Minister added.
Background. The day before, Blinken and Kuleba had a working lunch at Pizza Veterano, a restaurant opened by a military man.