U.S. Keeps Ukraine Close Amid Russian Build-Up

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiyi Reznikov is in Washington today to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as the United States continues to show support for Ukraine amid tensions with Russia over a recent military buildup.

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Although the meeting is meant to signal support for Ukraine during the latest strain in relations with its eastern neighbor, it’s not the only constituency Austin is trying to connect with, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the transatlantic security program at the Center for a New American Security told Foreign Policy.

“I think the audience for this meeting is both the Kremlin and also European allies because their eyes are focused very much on what’s happening in Belarus,” said Kendall-Taylor, who briefly served as senior director for Russia and Central Asia on U.S. President Joe Biden’s National Security Council.

“I don’t think Europe has come around to the same degree of concern and view of seriousness of where I think the U.S. administration is,” Kendall-Taylor added.

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