SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Blinken heads to rally Ukraine support, could cross paths with Lavrov
Washington, Nov 27 (AFP) Nov 27, 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Monday to Europe to rally support for Ukraine, on a trip where he could cross paths with his Russian counterpart but is unlikely to meet him.

Blinken, who has spent the last month consumed with the Israel-Hamas war and a US-China summit, was bound for talks with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on another top US priority.

Blinken is then expected to head Wednesday to a meeting in North Macedonia of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said James O'Brien, the top US diplomat for Europe.

"We anticipate that he'll engage in a good discussion with our OSCE colleagues about support for Ukraine," O'Brien told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that North Macedonia, which has joined Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, has agreed to let him attend the annual meeting of the pan-European security body in which Russia is a member.

Russian state media said that EU member Bulgaria has informed Moscow it would allow Lavrov's plane to cross its airspace.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there would not be a meeting with Blinken.

"No, (they) haven't asked, (they) won't ask and there won't be a meeting" he told Russian state news agencies."

Last year, OSCE host Poland refused to let Lavrov attend, sparking an angry response from Russia.

US officials have cut most top-level contact with Russia since the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, although Blinken briefly met Lavrov in March on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in India.

O'Brien declined comment on whether Blinken would see Lavrov and said that the top US diplomat's schedule was subject to change.

In Brussels, Blinken will speak about US support for Ukraine over the coming months, with Kyiv pursuing a counter-offensive at a time that much of global attention has shifted to the Middle East.

President Joe Biden's administration is trying to persuade opponents in the Republican Party to approve another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, which he has tied to support for Israel and Taiwan.

O'Brien said the administration was confident about support in Congress for Ukraine and cast the aid as a "coalition effort," with Kyiv paying for 60 percent of its military costs and the United States and allies paying for the rest.

"I think it's important for our partners to hear that we'll continue to do our part, even while our Congress is debating the next steps of what we'll provide," O'Brien said.

burs-lb-sct/sms


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Out of the string theory swampland
Where did cosmic rays come from? MSU astrophysicists are closer to finding out
Silicate clouds discovered in atmosphere of distant exoplanet

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Auto sector reels from China's rare earth restrictions
c-FIRST Team Sets Sights on Future Fire-observing Satellite Constellations
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Japan says two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific
NATO learns as Ukraine's 'creativity' changes battlefield
Rare earths: China's trump card in trade war with US

24/7 News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
What is the high seas treaty?
World leaders urged to step up for overexploited oceans



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.