UKRAINE – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv early Monday morning, as the future of US aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance of the imminent US presidential election and as Russia continues to make small but steady gains on the battlefield. Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov while in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s weapons needs and how the US can continue to support the country’s military over the next year.

After their meeting, Zelensky wrote on X that he discussed expanding the use of long-range strike capabilities against Russian military targets. The secretary’s visit was also meant to serve as a moment for him to “step back” and look at the “arc” of the US-Ukraine relationship over the last two and a half years of war, a senior defense official said.

It was not a victory lap, however. The Ukrainians are in a “very tough” situation against the Russians heading into winter, the official noted. That is despite the heavy Western sanctions imposed on Russia’s economy in response to its invasion, billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment the US has surged to Ukraine, and the multinational coalitions that the Biden administration rallied from the earliest days of the war to help Ukrainian troops beat back Russian advances. (CNN)

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomes US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before their meeting in Kyiv. (CNN)…[+]