US defence secretary visits Kyiv amid Zelenskyy’s support plea

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit on Monday as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed Western partners to accept his proposed “victory plan”.

The visit, hours after a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, shows “that the United States, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine,” the defence chief said on social platform X.

It also comes as Ukraine faces difficulty in holding back a ferocious Russian campaign along the eastern front that is gradually compelling Kyiv’s forces to give up a series of towns, villages, and hamlets.

Zelenskyy is urging Western allies to support his “victory plan” to end the almost three-year war, which is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including many civilians.

In a Sunday evening video address, Zelenskyy said that his plan had won the backing of France, Lithuania, Nordic countries, and “many other allies” in the European Union, which he didn’t name.

His strategy includes a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and permission to use Western long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia — steps Kyiv’s allies have previously baulked at supporting.

With the United States being Ukraine’s biggest military supplier, Austin was expected to discuss the plan with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy has said he received “very positive signals from the United States ” but has stopped short of saying he has secured Washington’s endorsement of the plan.

Meanwhile, Russia fired three missiles and 116 Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight from Sunday to Monday, Ukraine’s air force said.

Machine gun fire and the noise of drones’ engines were heard in Kyiv’s centre throughout the night.

Minor damage to civilian infrastructure was caused by falling drone debris in the three districts of the city, according to the authorities.

Additional sources • AP