The U.S. heads of state and military met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Sunday night, the most critical visit by an American team to the country's city since Russia's assault began.
The top-secret meeting with U.S. officials Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit came as Ukraine pushed the West for additional strong weapons to counter Russia's assault in eastern Ukraine's Donbas area, where Moscow's military was attempting to drive the last Ukrainian troops out of the damaged seaport of Mariupol.
U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken and Austin informed Zelenskyy, and his aides that the U.S. would contribute more than $300 million in international military finance and that a $165 million weaponry transaction had been authorized.
They also stated that the United States President Joe Biden promised that his candidate for representative to Ukraine would be announced soon and that American officials who fled Ukraine before the fighting would begin arriving this week.
Prior to actually meeting with Blinken and Austin, Zelenskyy stated that he expected the Americans to deliver results in terms of both weaponry and security commitments.
"You can't appear to us empty-handed now, and we're expecting certain items and particular weaponry, not just gifts or some kind of cake," he stated.
Zelenskyy's previous face-to-face encounter with a senior U.S. official took place on February 19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris, only five days before Russia launched its attack.
Though the West has provided Ukraine with military hardware, Zelenskyy has said that his country requires more powerful weapons, such as long-range air defense systems and fighters.
While Ukrainians and Russians celebrated Orthodox Easter, Zelenskyy met with U.S. officials.
Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, spoke from Kyiv's venerable St. Sophia Cathedral, emphasizing its relevance to a nation devastated by over two months of conflict.
"Today's magnificent celebration offers us enormous optimism and the unshakeable conviction that light will triumph over darkness, good will triumph over evil, life will triumph over death, and so Ukraine will undoubtedly triumph!" he noted.
Even still, the war left a gloom over the festivities. Olena Koptyl, who lives in the northern village of Ivanivka, where Russian armored vehicles litter the roads, said that the Easter celebration brings no happiness and that they cannot overlook how they lived.
Overnight, Russian airplanes attacked 423 Ukrainian targets, including entrenched areas and army concentrations, while 26 Ukrainian military facilities were damaged, including an explosives facility and multiple artillery stations.
