US defense secretary meets with Zelenskyy in Kyiv to show steadfast support for Ukraine

By TARA COPP and FELIPE DANA
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced visit to Kyiv. He arrived Monday in what is expected to be a high-profile push to keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine even as U.S. and international resources are stretched by the new global risks raised by the Israel-Hamas conflict. Austin traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland. He has met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and is scheduled to meet with Ukraine’s defense minister and chief of staff. and publicly press Ukraine’s urgent military needs as it enters another tough winter of fighting. Austin said Ukraine’s effort to defeat Russia’s invasion “matters to the rest of the world” and that U.S. support would continue “for the long haul.”