Blinken makes unscheduled visit to Kyiv - media

BRUSSELS. Sept 8 (Interfax) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for an unscheduled visit, the Associated Press news agency said.

"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unscheduled visit to Kyiv on Thursday," the news agency said.

According to Associated Press, Blinken met with Ukrainian officials and announced the allocation of $2 billion as military assistance to Ukraine and 18 European countries for solving national defense problems.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that the United States had approved another package of military assistance to Ukraine totaling $675 million. The package includes munitions for HIMARS high mobility artillery rocket systems, 105mm howitzers, artillery projectiles, small arms, and armored ambulances.

The Pentagon said at the end of August that U.S. security assistance to Ukraine had topped $13.5 billion since January 2022. Overall, the assistance has exceeded $14 billion, including the latest package.