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The United States believes Kyiv can win the war against Russia if it has the "right equipment", Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said on Monday.
A landmark visit by Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine came as the war entered its third month, with thousands killed and millions displaced by the fighting.
The pair met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday night in the highest-level visit to the war-torn country's capital by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s invasion.
"The first step in winning is believing that you can win. And so they believe that we can win," Mr Austin told a group of journalists after he and Blinken met Mr Zelenskyy.
"We believe that we can win, they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support."
At the meeting, Ukraine pressed the West for more powerful weapons against Russia’s campaign in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces sought to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol.
Before the session, Mr Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, in arms and security guarantees.
“You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,” he said.
The meeting between the two sides lasted three hours and was "very productive and detailed", according to a Pentagon spokesman, adding that Zelenskyy was also briefed on a security summit in Germany on Tuesday among Western allies.
Following the talks, Mr Austin said the US hoped the Russian military would be exhausted in Ukraine, preventing it from launching further invasions.
"We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine," said Austin.
The US has been a leading donor of finance and weaponry to Ukraine and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia, but had not yet sent any top officials to Kyiv, while several European leaders have travelled there to underscore their support.
"Many countries are going to come forward and provide additional munitions and howitzers. So we're going to push as hard as we can, as quickly as we can, to get them what they need," Mr Austin later said in reference to Tuesday's summit in Germany.
US diplomats will begin a gradual return to Ukraine this week and announced $700 million (653 million euros) in additional military aid.
The highly sensitive trip by two of President Joe Biden's top cabinet members came as fighting continued across swathes of Ukraine, casting a long shadow over Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.
Following a weekend full of fighting, at least five people were killed and another 18 injured on Monday after a Russia rocket attack targeted railway infrastructure in the central Ukraine region of Vinnytsia.
Russian forces have been widely accused of targeting civilian infrastructure throughout the Kremlin's two-month military assault on its pro-democratic neighbour, allegations Moscow denies.
The attacks came as Russia's defence ministry announced a ceasefire around the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, following calls over the weekend to pause fighting to allow civilians to leave.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP -
Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA -
A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA -
A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA -
Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters -
A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP -
An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP -
Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters -
Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA -
Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP -
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP -
People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters -
Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA -
A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters -
A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA -
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA -
Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA -
A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA -
An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP -
Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP -
Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP -
A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP -
Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP -
Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP -
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images -
Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA -
Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP -
A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images -
Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP -
A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP
Meanwhile, Russia is planning to stage a fraudulent referendum in the city of Kherson in an attempt to justify its occupation of Ukraine, British intelligence officials believe.
Moscow has identified Kherson as a vital focal point for its invasion as it seeks to establish a southern land corridor that would link the mainland to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Kherson, which has a population of 300,000 people, became one of the first cities to become contested during the devastating conflict which has now entered its third month.
"Russia previously held an illegitimate referendum on the accession of Crimea into the Russian Federation in 2014 to retrospectively justify its seizure of the Peninsula," the UK's Ministry of Defence said on Twitter.
The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs on Monday that 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive.
“Alongside the death toll are the equipment losses and in total a number of sources suggest that to date over 2,000 armoured vehicles have been destroyed or captured," he told MPs.
He reiterated Russia has so far “failed in nearly every one of its objectives”, adding: “In recognition of this failure the Russian high command has regrouped, reinforced and changed focus to securing Donetsk and Luhansk oblast.”
Mr Zelenskyy’s last face-to-face meeting with a top US official was on February 19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris.
While the West has funnelled military equipment to Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy has stressed repeatedly it needs more heavy weapons, including long-range air defence systems, and warplanes.
Speaking from Kyiv’s ancient St. Sophia Cathedral, Mr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, highlighted its significance to a nation racked by nearly two months of war.
“The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win” he said.
But the war cast a shadow over celebrations.
In the northern village of Ivanivka, where Russian tanks still littered the roads, Olena Koptyl said: “The Easter holiday doesn’t bring any joy. I’m crying a lot. We cannot forget how we lived.”
Victor Lobush of Kyiv said Ukraine needed more weapons and financial support, and for western nations “not to buy even a drop of the Russian oil".
“Actions, not words, are needed,” Mr Lobush said on Independence Square.
Mr Wallace claimed Ukrainian forces have been using Starstreak high-velocity and low-velocity anti-air missiles for more than three weeks.
He said: “In response to indiscriminate bombing from the air and escalation by President Putin forces on March 9, I announced the UK would supply Starstreak high-velocity and low-velocity anti-air missiles.
“I am able to now report to the House that these have been in theatre for over three weeks and have been deployed and used by Ukrainian forces to defend themselves and their territory.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Stormer armoured vehicles will give Ukrainian forces “enhanced, short-range anti-air capabilities both day and night”.
Mr Wallace told the Commons that “as we can see from Ukrainians’ requests, more still needs to be done”.
He added: “So, for that reason I can now announce to the House that we shall be gifting a small number of armoured vehicles fitted with launchers for those anti-air missiles.
“The Stormer vehicles will give Ukrainian forces enhanced, short-range anti-air capabilities both day and night.”
He added in the Commons: “At the start of this conflict Russia had committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65% of its entire ground combat strength.
“As of now we assess around over 25% of these have been rendered not combat effective.
“Ukraine is an inspiration to us all. Their brave people have never stopped fighting for their lands. They have endured indiscriminate bombardment, war crimes and overwhelming military aggression but they have stood firm, galvanised the international community and beaten back the army of Russia in the north and the north east.
“We anticipate this next phase of the invasion will be an attempt by Russia to occupy further the Donbas and connect via Mariupol the Crimea so it’s urgent that we in the international community ensure Ukraine gets the aid and weapons it so much needs.”
