WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Ukraine next week in a show of “unwavering” support after Russian troops amassed on its border, the State Department said on Friday.

Russia in recent weeks deployed up to 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders as well as in Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, raising concerns of a major escalation.

But Moscow announced on April 23 that it had started withdrawing its forces, bringing at least momentary relief in Kiev and the Nato alliance.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2021