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| U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on on 7 October, 2023 |
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.
Trump’s election on 5 November, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, have escalated fears in Europe on the future of assistance for Ukraine as it battles Russian invaders.
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.
Marco 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.
Trump 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.
The 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.
Trump’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.
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