Pentagon chief visits Ukraine to reassure Kyiv over US support
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Transcript
00:00 It was a surprise visit to us, all official visits here in Kyiv simply for security reasons.
00:06 We never know much in advance who is coming.
00:08 But the timing is a pretty happy one here in Kyiv because Kyiv needed this reassurance
00:17 from the United States as well as it does from its other allies in terms of what they
00:22 deliver and if they're going to deliver more aid.
00:25 You were mentioning President Zelensky had said over the past few days that he saw a
00:30 drop in what was being delivered and what was being committed to Ukraine in terms of
00:36 military aid, in terms of humanitarian aid since the war from Israel against Hamas started
00:42 on the 7th of October.
00:44 And also there's been uncertainty as to the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine since Congress
00:53 has blocked further aid packages.
00:55 And you mentioned those $100 million in military aid.
00:59 They have indeed been announced yesterday, but it's not something that is being decided
01:03 by the Congress.
01:04 This is something that just required the signature of the U.S. president and it was based on
01:09 the previous U.S. fiscal year.
01:11 So this is not a new aid that is being pledged.
01:14 And of course, there's the worry here that there's not much more coming, although Lloyd
01:20 Austin, the Defense Secretary, has assured, Kiev has assured the presidency that the U.S.
01:26 support would be unwavering.
01:28 So time will tell, but of course this visit was very important from the Ukrainian side.