{"id":612580,"date":"2023-02-27T22:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T04:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/27\/biden-dispatches-yellen-and-blinken-to-bolster-support-for-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2023-02-27T22:45:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T04:45:00","slug":"biden-dispatches-yellen-and-blinken-to-bolster-support-for-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/27\/biden-dispatches-yellen-and-blinken-to-bolster-support-for-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Dispatches Yellen and Blinken to Bolster Support for Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"story\">\n<header>\n<p><h2 id=\"link-623bb266\" data-testid=\"headline\">Biden Deploys High-Powered Aides, Plus More Aid, to Bolster Ukraine<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-summary\">Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to Kyiv the day before Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to visit Central Asia in a show of American solidarity with Ukraine in its battle with Russia.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Two women with flowers in their hands walking toward a war memorial outdoors. \" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/02\/27\/multimedia\/27ukraine-ledeall-mbqj\/27ukraine-ledeall-mbqj-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&#038;auto=webp&#038;disable=upscale\"   decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/picture><\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Bridget Brink, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, placed flowers at the memorial wall of St. Michael\u2019s Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Thibault Camus\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>By <\/span><span itemprop=\"name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/marc-santora\">Marc Santora<\/a><\/span> and <span itemprop=\"name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/alan-rappeport\">Alan Rappeport<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Marc Santora reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Alan Rappeport reported while traveling with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on an eight-day trip to India and Poland, from where she entered Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section name=\"articleBody\">\n<div>\n<p>A week after President Biden traveled to Ukraine to pledge American support in the fight to repel Russia, he has dispatched two senior cabinet members to redouble efforts to prop up the Ukrainian economy and to try to curb the Kremlin\u2019s ability to skirt Western sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>The visits, by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen to the capital, Kyiv, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/27\/world\/asia\/central-asia-blinken-russia-ukraine.html\" title>Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken<\/a> into the heart of what Moscow considers its sphere of influence in Central Asia, underscore the Biden administration\u2019s commitment to blocking Moscow\u2019s ambitions in Ukraine as the war enters its second year.<\/p>\n<p>The diplomatic moves by the Biden administration come as President Vladimir V. Putin has spent the past year seeking to reinforce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/08\/world\/asia\/russia-putin-soviet.html\" title>Russia\u2019s influence in Central Asia<\/a> and to deepen ties with China, which the United States has said is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/19\/world\/europe\/us-china-weapons-russia-ukraine.html\" title>preparing to provide more overt assistance<\/a> to Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Blinken was to arrive on Tuesday in Kazakhstan to urge senior Central Asian officials from the former Soviet republics convening there to maintain their independence from Russia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/16\/world\/asia\/china-xi-central-asia.html\" title>and China<\/a> and not to be complicit in Moscow\u2019s attempts to evade sanctions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>China is exerting its own diplomatic influence, as it prepares to welcome President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus, a staunch ally of Russia, for a three-day visit starting on Tuesday, during which he is expected to meet the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. officials say they are cleareyed about their goals in Central Asia. They do not believe that many of the nations that have remained neutral in the war will make bold statements soon against Russia, since they have decades-long ties, including military relations, to Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>And none of the Central Asian nations voted yes on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2023\/02\/23\/world\/russia-ukraine-news\/the-un-general-assembly-votes-141-to-7-with-32-abstentions-to-call-for-peace-in-ukraine?smid=url-share\" title>United Nations resolution<\/a> last week calling for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and agree to a lasting peace recognizing Ukraine\u2019s full sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur main goal is to show that the United States is a reliable partner, and we see the difficulties that these economies are facing \u2014 high food prices, high fuel prices, high unemployment, difficulty in exporting their goods, slow post-Covid recovery and a large influx of migrants from Russia,\u201d Donald Lu, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia and Central Asia, said at a news briefing on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div>\n<p><span>Image<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Passengers on a tram in Kyiv last week. The economic aid Ms. Yellen announced on Monday will be used to support Ukraine\u2019s faltering economy.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Emile Ducke for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>For Ms. Yellen, Monday\u2019s unannounced trip to Kyiv highlighted how intertwined national security and economic security have become.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>As Treasury secretary, Ms. Yellen \u2014 an economist and former Federal Reserve chair \u2014 has been involved in devising the sanctions that the United States has imposed on Russia in the past year to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/04\/us\/politics\/russia-sanctions-ukraine-war.html\" title>put pressure on its economy<\/a>. She has also designed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/12\/05\/world\/europe\/russia-oil-price-cap-embargo.html\" title>the price cap<\/a> that the United States and its allies in the Group of 7 nations enacted to limit the price at which Russian oil can be sold.<\/p>\n<p>Arriving on an overnight train from Poland as air raid sirens blared \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/20\/us\/politics\/biden-ukraine-visit.html\" title>just as Mr. Biden did<\/a> only days ago \u2014 Ms. Yellen crisscrossed Kyiv, meeting with the country\u2019s top officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky; honoring those who had been killed in the conflict; and publicly making the case that the billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money were being well spent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome President Zelensky\u2019s ardent commitment to handling these funds in the \u2018most responsible way,\u2019\u201d Ms. Yellen said, quoting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/12\/21\/us\/politics\/zelensky-speech-transcript.html\" title>the Ukrainian leader\u2019s words to Congress<\/a> in December. \u201cTransparency and accountability will become even more important as Ukraine rebuilds its infrastructure and recovers from the impacts of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Yellen announced the transfer of $1.25 billion in economic aid to Ukraine \u2014 money to help finance schools, firefighters and doctors. It is the first installment of about $10 billion that the United States is providing to Kyiv this year as part of a $45 billion aid package approved by Congress in December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>She vowed that \u201cAmerica will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,\u201d making the case that buttressing the Ukrainian economy is equally as important as fortifying the nation\u2019s military.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div>\n<p><span>Image<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">A portion of the $1.25 billion in economic aid will be used to help Ukrainian schools.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Laura Boushnak for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>After she met with Ukraine\u2019s prime minister, Denys A. Shmyhal, at his gilded but barricaded offices, where sandbags filled the windows and doorways, Ms. Yellen said, \u201cWe both know that effective military resistance on the front lines of this fight requires a functioning economy and government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Ukraine, the funds cannot come quickly enough.<\/p>\n<p>The International Monetary Fund estimates that the country is facing a monthly budget shortfall of about $5 billion per month. The United States has been urging its European allies to provide more aid and is encouraging the I.M.F. to approve a full loan package for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Biden administration\u2019s commitment to Ukraine appears to be unwavering, there is growing political resistance from Republicans, who are increasingly arguing that the amounts of aid going to Ukraine are risking becoming unaffordable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Ms. Yellen\u2019s visit was intended to counter that sentiment a month after Mr. Zelensky vowed to take action against corruption in the wake of an official\u2019s dismissal for embezzlement.<\/p>\n<p>Even as Ms. Yellen arrived to Ukraine, the Biden administration was extending its effort to head off Moscow\u2019s own attempts to seek economic aid and other support abroad. American officials have noted the skeptical remarks some top Central Asian officials, including those in Kazakhstan, have made about Mr. Putin and Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, another former Soviet republic.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration aims to exploit that, starting with Mr. Blinken\u2019s trip to Central Asia, his first since Russia\u2019s invasion. Both Mr. Putin and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/14\/world\/asia\/xi-jinping-putin-china.html\" title>Mr. Xi visited in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div>\n<p><span>Image<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">A photograph released by the Ukrainian presidential news service showing President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ms. Yellen on Monday.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Ukrainian Presidential Press-Service, via Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Mr. Xi\u2019s hosting of Mr. Lukashenko this week will come with all the pomp of a state visit. Belarus is a staunch Kremlin partner, and last year, Mr. Lukashenko allowed Russian forces to use his country as a staging ground for their invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Concerns are deepening in the Biden administration that China will provide lethal aid to the Kremlin\u2019s war effort. And Ms. Yellen told reporters who have been traveling with her this week that China must abide by the American sanctions against Russia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have certainly communicated to China that we expect them to adhere to the sanctions and that any evidence that the government or private firms or financial institutions in China are providing material support that would evade our sanctions is something that would bring really severe consequences and is something that we wouldn\u2019t tolerate,\u201d Ms. Yellen said.<\/p>\n<p>Such threats are not sitting well with China. On Monday, Beijing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2023\/02\/27\/world\/russia-ukraine-news\/bc8bca64-b1d5-559b-beb1-98b2aeb06e74?smid=url-share\" title>accused the United States of being \u201chypocritical\u201d<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/19\/world\/europe\/us-china-weapons-russia-ukraine.html\" title>warning<\/a> against giving Russia weapons to use in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the United States has intensified its efforts to send weapons to one of the conflicting parties, resulting in endless wars and no end in sight for peace, it has frequently spread false information about China\u2019s supply of weapons to Russia,\u201d Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China\u2019s foreign ministry, said at a news briefing.<\/p>\n<p>As American officials have made frequent visits to Ukraine in recent months, the threat of violence, even far from the front, remains constant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Ms. Yellen traveled in a police-escorted motorcade, weaving through checkpoints, past concrete blast walls and iron hedgehogs erected to stop Russian tanks. The trenches on the sides of the roads in some places were a reminder of the danger that remained.<\/p>\n<p>Overnight Sunday, Russia launched swarms of drones at Kyiv and other targets across the country, seeking to exhaust Ukrainian air defenses by staggering the attacks, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian forces shot down at least nine of the drones over the capital during the attack, which started just before midnight and lasted until just before dawn, the authorities in Kyiv said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div>\n<p><span>Image<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Searchlights trying to spot drones over Kyiv Monday morning.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Gleb Garanich\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Russian shelling also damaged power infrastructure and caused blackouts in the southern Odesa region on Monday, according to the authorities, the latest setback for an energy system that has weathered months of Russian bombardment.<\/p>\n<p>During Ms. Yellen\u2019s visit, she spoke at Obolon School No. 168, which was severely damaged during Russia\u2019s initial onslaught last year. The school, where the salaries of teachers, administrators and support staff were directly reimbursed by U.S. budget support, has been rebuilt in the past year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Ms. Yellen also stopped at the square in front of St. Michael\u2019s Golden-Domed Monastery to lay a wreath in memory of those who died and to observe a display of destroyed Russian tanks and armored vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury secretary made clear that American aid to Ukraine would keep flowing and that the United States would redouble its efforts against the Russian economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to work with our international coalition to provide military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,\u201d Ms. Yellen said. \u201cAnd we will continue to impose severe costs on the Kremlin for its illegal war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marc Santora reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Alan Rappeport from Rzeszow, Poland. Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Olivia Wang contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/27\/world\/europe\/ukraine-yellen-blinken-russia.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Marc Santora and Alan Rappeport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden Deploys High-Powered Aides, Plus More Aid, to Bolster Ukraine Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to Kyiv the day before Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to visit Central Asia in a show of American solidarity with Ukraine in its battle with Russia. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Bridget Brink, the U.S. ambassador to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":612581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32940,65,534],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-612580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dispatches","8":"category-biden","9":"category-financial"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}