US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint press conference with European Union Foreign Policy chief, Armenian prime minister and EU Commission president in Brussels on April 5, 2024. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed Tuesday on an emergency trip to Brussels to discuss how to support Ukraine with European allies in the race before Donald Trump takes the White House.
The top US diplomat under outgoing President Joe Biden will meet Wednesday “with his Nato and European Union counterparts to discuss support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s aggression,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Article continues after this advertisementTrump’s election on November 5, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, have escalated fears in Europe on the future of assistance for Ukraine as it battles Russian invaders.
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Trump has in the past voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion in US assistance committed for Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Article continues after this advertisementMarco Rubio, Trump’s pick to succeed Blinken, in a recent interview said that the United States needs to acknowledge that the Ukraine war was a “stalemate” and should show “pragmatism” on future support.
Article continues after this advertisementTrump has boasted that he can end the war in a day, likely by forcing concessions of Ukraine, although Mike Waltz, his newly named national security advisor, has said that Trump may also pressure Putin.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Washington Post reported that, since the election, Trump had already spoke to Putin by telephone and discouraged an escalation by Russia. The Kremlin denied the report.
READ: EU vows ‘unwavering’ support for Ukraine after Trump win
Article continues after this advertisementTrump’s victory came as Ukraine was already bracing for the impact of thousands of North Korean troops whom US intelligence say have been sent to fight for Russia, giving Moscow a greater edge.
On Tuesday, the US State Department said that Pyongyang’s soldiers had begun “engaging in combat operations” alongside Russian forces.
‘Strongest possible position’The Biden administration has made clear it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.
“Our approach remains the same as it’s been for the last two and a half years, which is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, said at the weekend.
Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expected the United States to focus on sending vehicles, medical supplies and small-arms ammunition, which Ukraine needs and the United States can provide.
“I think between now and the end of the administration, they’re going to try to ship everything they can that’s available,” Cancian said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Monday that Putin could take advantage of the US post-election transition to press his advantage.
“We don’t have time to wait until spring,” she said.
Trump in his first term aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of Nato, the US-backed transatlantic alliance dating from the Cold War that has been robustly defended by Biden.
“It is safe to say that whatever approach the US leadership takes towards Ukraine, Europe will have to step up, and we will have to take the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts and macro financial stability,” said Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
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“Unfortunatelysmbet, Donald Trump’s win comes at arguably the worst possible time in terms of Europe’s political and economic shape and its ability to promptly coordinate,” she said.
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