Blinken and Lammy took part in a summit held in the Ukrainian capital about the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $325 million in U.S. energy assistance and nearly $290 million in humanitarian aid, while British Foreign Minister David Lammy confirmed an additional £600 million ($781 million) from the U.K. to support Ukraine’s military and infrastructure.
Long Range missiles
Blinken and Lammy are expected to push Ukraine for more information on its strategic aims as they consider whether to give the go-ahead on the use of long-range missiles on Russian territory, according to Western sources.
The US Secretary of State has declined to say whether Washington would give permission but said multiple factors went into any decision.
“It’s not just the system itself that counts. You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?” Blinken said.
In turn, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said that Moscow would consider the United States and its allies to be parties to the war if they allowed Kyiv to use long-range weapons to strike deep in Russia.
Victory plan
With Kyiv at a critical juncture in its struggle against Russia, Blinken has said he wants to hear directly from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others what Kyiv’s goals in the war are and what Washington can do to help it achieve them.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday a “victory plan” he wants to present to U.S. President Joe Biden this month would strengthen Kyiv and have a “psychological” impact that could push Russia to end its war diplomatically.
Speaking at the Crimean Platform event, Zelenskyy said it was important that Ukraine presented the plan to its allies before a second international summit on peace that he wants to hold later this year.
“If partners support it, it will make it easier for Ukraine to force Russia to end the war,” he said.
Zelenskyy first spoke of the plan last month, saying he wanted to discuss it with Biden and his two potential successors after the U.S. presidential election in November.
Zelenskyy is expected to travel to the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
