Welcoming two top US officials, Ukraine made a special offer?

Reuters Blinken and Austin were reported to have traveled to Kiev to discuss Ukraine’s offer of heavier weapons. The visit was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on April 23, although the White House has not confirmed it and the US State Department and the Pentagon declined to comment.

Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, confirmed on television on the evening of April 24 (local time) that Blinken and Austin “are holding talks” with the Ukrainian leader in Kiev. Details of the meeting have not been announced.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Photo: Thai PBS World

Currently, there is no sign of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (starting on February 24) showing signs of ending. Ms. Nataliya Krasnopolskaia, evacuated from Odesa city to Prague capital – Czech Republic last month, told Reuters: “I pray that this horror in Ukraine will end soon and we can return home”.

The governor of the Luhansk region Serhiy Gaidai complained that Easter on April 24 was affected by the ongoing fighting. He said seven churches in the Luhansk region were hit by Russian artillery fire.

Speaking at the 1,000-year-old St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Mr. Zelenskiy declared Ukraine will not be defeated and prayed for the happiness of children and mothers.

In the past, Mr. Zelenskiy asked the US to provide heavier weapons to retake the territories that were out of control. According to ReutersWashington and its NATO allies seem willing to accommodate this request. Britain committed to sending military vehicles and considered supplying tanks to Poland so that Poland could deliver T-72 tanks (designed by Russia) to Ukraine.

A view of the ruins in Mariupol on April 24. Photo: Reuters

Houses and vehicles were destroyed in Odesa on April 24. Photo: Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, after a phone call with Zelenskiy, agreed to assist in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, adviser to the Ukrainian president, Oleksiy Arestovych, said on April 24 that Russian forces are putting pressure on the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol with air and artillery support. The army in the steel mill complex is trying to counterattack.

Ukraine estimates that “tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Mariupol and 100,000 are still trapped in the city”. The United Nations and the Red Cross believe that at least thousands of people in Mariupol have been killed.

Ukraine also claimed that its forces repelled 12 attacks on the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk a day earlier, destroying four tanks, 15 armored vehicles and five artillery systems. British military intelligence revealed Ukrainian resistance to be strong, especially in the Donbas region, but Russia is making some progress.

On April 24, according to RT, Russia said it had fired missiles at eight Ukrainian military targets, including four weapons depots in Northeastern Kharkiv and a facility that allegedly produces explosives for the Ukrainian army in the country. Dnipropetrovsk.