The United States “will get Ukraine what it needs” to fight its war with Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, but he gave no hint that Washington might endorse key planks of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's so-called “victory plan.

Ukraine is having difficulty 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.

The trip comes just two weeks before an election that could determine whether the United States continues its campaign of massive military support.