Top US officials expected in Kyiv: Zelensky

KYIV, April 24 Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin were set to visit Kyiv on Sunday to discuss Ukraine’s call for more powerful weapons, two months after Russia’s invasion began.   

The trip, announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, would be the highest-level by U.S. officials since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine on Feb. 24.   

He earlier said talks with his U.S. visitors would cover the “powerful, heavy weapons” Ukraine needed to retake territory and the pace of deliveries.   

The United States and NATO allies have shown growing readiness to supply heavier equipment and advanced weapons systems. Britain has promised to send military vehicles and said it was considering supplying British tanks to Poland to free up Warsaw’s Russian-designed T-72s for Ukraine.   

Moscow, which describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation”, denies targeting civilians and rejects what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities, saying Kyiv staged them to undermine peace talks.