Blinken in Europe to support Ukraine after Trump election

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Brussels on Tuesday for emergency talks with the European Union ;eans in an attempt to speed up aid to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump came to power.

The secretary of state will meet with NATO and European Union officials on Wednesday “to discuss support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” his spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Mr. Blinken's trip looks very much like an emergency trip to the Belgian and European capital, amid concerns in Ukraine and many capitals on the Old Continent about the sustainability of support for kyiv after Mr. Trump's re-election on November 5, and a political crisis in Germany.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Political Community (EPC) summit on November 7, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary © AFP – Ferenc ISZA

The former President of the United States (2017-2021), who will return to the White House on January 20, is already at work: he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin to ask him not to escalate the war, according to the Washington Post.

But the Kremlin denied that the two men spoke, a “pure invention” according to Moscow.

Donald Trump is also preparing, according to the American press, to appoint the influential Florida senator Marco Rubio as his secretary of state. The latter recently estimated that “it is necessary to end” the war in Ukraine, in an “impasse” according to him.

– End of the war “in one day” –

The 78-year-old tycoon has regularly claimed to be able to end the war “in one day” even before taking office, without ever detailing how he would go about it.

But he has questioned the tens of billions of dollars spent by Washington on Ukraine — more than 60 billion dollars in military aid since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

Outgoing President Joe Biden therefore wants to accelerate the delivery of military aid to Ukraine and continue to put in place mechanisms so that the Europeans take over.

There remains up to $9.2 billion of the envelope voted in the spring to be allocated, including $7.1 billion to be drawn from American arms stocks and $2.1 billion to finance arms purchase contracts, according to the Pentagon.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned the sum of $6 billion on Sunday and warned against the risks of a halt in US support.

“By the end of the (outgoing) administration, they will try to ship everything that is available,” such as armored vehicles and ammunition for small arms, “which Ukraine needs and which the United States has in large quantities,” Mark Cancian of the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) told AFP. Washington.

– Europeans under pressure –

As Berlin is in the midst of a political crisis, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned of the risk of Vladimir Putin taking advantage of the political transition in the United States to push his advantage in Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on November 6, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – Odd ANDERSEN

Everything that Europe can provide to Ukraine “must be mobilized now,” the minister said, insisting on strengthening the country's air defenses.

Blinken's visit, whose room for maneuver is very narrow until January 20, comes as drone attacks of unprecedented scale targeted Ukraine and the Moscow region last weekend, and thousands of North Korean troops are amassing in the Russian border region of Kursk.

The New York Times reported that Moscow had massed 50,000 soldiers, including North Koreans in an attempt to dislodge Ukrainian troops who have been controlling this part of the Kursk region for three months.

“Whatever approach the American leadership takes toward Ukraine, Europe will have to step up and take the lead in Ukraine's defense efforts,” Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund, a transatlantic research center, recently said.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump's victory probably comes at the worst possible time in terms of Europe's political and economic state and its ability to coordinate quickly,” she added.

In Brussels, there are also concerns that EU members will treat the incoming Trump administration bilaterally, which would further weaken the European Union, she noted.

All reproduction and representation rights reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse