US Secretary of State Blinken met with NATO, EU and Ukrainian officials in Brussels on Monday to discuss how to support Donald Trump before it returns to the White House.
US Secretary of State Blinken spoke to the media Friday after attending a North Atlantic Council conference in Brussels.
Blinken met with NATO secretary-general Lütter in Brussels Sunday morning, Reuters reported. The two men discussed how American allies could take greater leadership in supporting Ukraine amid uncertainty about Washington’s future role. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Blinken said the Biden administration would continue to support Ukraine to ensure it could fight effectively or negotiate peace with the Russians from a position of strength next year. He stressed that the Biden administration would use the remaining days to continue to strengthen its alliance with Ukraine and work to deliver all the aid approved by the US Congress before the end of the administration’s term. “The president has decided that we will spend every dollar at our disposal.”
Blinken repeated his call for Washington’s allies to step up efforts to provide more artillery, more anti-aircraft equipment, more ammunition and help train Kiev’s forces, AFP reported.
According to Agence France-presse, Blinken also met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Serbiga, European Union Foreign and Security Policy High Representative David Borrelli and his successor Callas. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Foreign Minister Serbiga had held bilateral talks with Blinken and that the two sides had coordinated further measures after the US presidential election, the Ukrainian state news agency reported, and discussed follow-up U. S. military assistance. “Ukraine has always valued strong bipartisan support [ in the US ] ,” he said. “We have maintained contact with both sides and worked with the newly elected president and his team as well as the outgoing government.” Ukraine can not pause or wait on defense, “Our people need better protection now, not later.”.
After winning the election, Donald Trump spoke to Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, claiming he could end the war in a day, but did not specify how, raising concerns among American allies that he could force Ukrainian concessions. The challenge for the current administration, according to the Washington Post, is to find a Ukrainian strategy that can not be easily reversed under Donald Trump, and there are few easy answers. Since the election, the Pentagon has been stepping up the military aid package approved by Congress in April, so that the aid actually enters Ukrainian territory before Donald Trump takes office as president on January 20.