Blinken visits Kyiv to tout US support

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine it has US support.

"We know this is a challenging time," Blinken said in the Ukrainian capital where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The visit comes less than a month after Congress approved a long-delayed foreign assistance package that set aside $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, much of which will go toward replenishing badly depleted artillery and air defense systems.

Assistance from the new package "is now on the way", Blinken said, adding that some of it had already arrived in Ukraine.