Blinken points to other countries' promises of support for Kyiv if the US withdraws under Trump

(Patria) - Ukraine is on the path to "stand on its own feet" militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, noting that more than twenty other countries have pledged to maintain their military and financial assistance to the country even if the US withdraws its support under another president.

Blinken addressed for the first time the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November elections and abandon commitments to Ukraine. The United States, under President Joe Biden, has been Ukraine's most important supporter since the beginning of the Russian aggression.

Trump's comments have varied between criticizing US support for Ukraine's defense and its support, while his vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, has been a leader of Republican efforts to block billions in US military and financial aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, AP reported.

Ukraine's and its supporters' concerns that the country could lose vital US support have grown as Trump's campaign gains momentum and Biden falters.

Blinken said on Friday that any new administration would have to consider the strong
bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine in the interest of countering Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempts to expand Moscow's territory and influence.

"Any administration has the opportunity, of course, to set its own policy. We cannot lock in the future," Blinken said, addressing an audience of US policymakers and others at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

He also pointed to security agreements that the US and more than twenty other allies,
including some NATO partners, Japan, and the European Union, signed at the NATO summit in Washington this month.

"If we were to walk away... I suppose that's possible, but fortunately we have about twenty other countries doing the same thing," Blinken said.

Ukraine itself has been on the path to ensuring that it "stands on its own feet militarily, economically, democratically," Blinken said.