(Brussels) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday promised a “firm” response to North Korea’s involvement alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine, and called on Europeans to do more to accelerate aid in Kyiv.
Posted at 6:47 a.m.
Léon BRUNEAU
Agence France-Presse
Mr. Blinken is making a whirlwind visit to Brussels. His trip takes on an urgent nature, against a backdrop of concerns from Ukraine and many capitals on the old continent about the sustainability of support for Kyiv after the re-election of Donald Trump, to which is added a political crisis in Germany.
“The North Korean forces engaged in battle and, now, literally in combat: this new element demands a firm response and it will be,” declared the head of American diplomacy to the press, alongside the Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte.
“This is a profoundly and incredibly dangerous development,” he added, without specifying how the United States and its allies planned to respond.
The United States has confirmed that North Korean troops are engaged in combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region, a small part of which is occupied by Ukrainian forces.
And it’s not just North Korea, said Mr. Rutte. China is helping Russia in its “war effort” against Ukraine and Iran is supplying it with weapons, paid for by Moscow, “which helps Iran continue its efforts to destabilize the Middle East and even beyond.” beyond,” he stressed, calling for an increase in European defense spending.
Antony Blinken, whose days are numbered at the head of American diplomacy, also insisted that the outgoing Biden administration intended to spend “every dollar” to accelerate the delivery of aid to Ukraine by the end of his term. mandate, and urged Europeans to “share the burden”.
“We are counting on the Europeans and others to strongly support Ukraine,” he said, citing armored vehicles, small arms ammunition and air defense.
After his visit to NATO headquarters, Antony Blinken must see his Ukrainian counterpart Andriï Sybiga. He will also meet with Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, and Kaja Kallas, who will succeed him in a few weeks.
The EU must support Ukraine “as long as necessary, with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as necessary”, the latter launched on Tuesday during her hearing before European parliamentarians.
“More aggressive”
Donald Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, maintains doubt about what he will do regarding Ukraine. But he questioned the tens of billions of dollars spent by Washington on Ukraine – more than $60 billion in military aid since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
According to the American press, he has set his sights on Republican Senator Marco Rubio to be the next Secretary of State. The latter denounced the financing of a “dead end” in Ukraine and called for an end to the war.
In the meantime, outgoing President Joe Biden is seeking to accelerate the delivery of military aid to Ukraine and continue to put in place mechanisms so that the Europeans can take over.
NATO has already been entrusted with coordinating military aid to Ukraine, previously provided only by the Americans.
Of the envelope voted in the spring by the American Congress, there remains approximately 9.2 billion dollars to be allocated, namely 7.1 billion to be drawn from American arms stocks and 2.1 billion to finance procurement contracts. arms purchase, according to the Pentagon.
Mr. Blinken, on the other hand, refrained from responding to a long-standing demand from the Ukrainians, namely the possibility of using long-range missiles delivered by the allies to attack deep into Russian territory.
“Basically, it was about doing more of the same, but more aggressively, for the rest of Mr. Biden’s term,” summarized a NATO diplomat after the meeting.
Mr. Blinken’s visit comes after drone attacks on an unprecedented scale targeted Ukraine and the Moscow region last weekend.
