NEW - Blinken plays guitar in a bar in Kyiv while Russian troops advance in northeast Ukraine.pic.twitter.com/6rDm0Gd6zX
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 14, 2024
Secretary of State Antony Blinken's surprise trip to Ukraine Tuesday took a musical twist when he joined a band onstage in Kyiv to perform a rendition of Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World.
Blinken's unscheduled trip was his first since Congress finally approved nearly $61 billion in fresh aid to Ukraine to bolster the nation's defenses against the ongoing Russian invasion.
The secretary of State ended his day at the Barman Dictat in Kyiv, where he joined the band 19.99 onstage.
Sporting dad jeans, black sneakers and a black button-down, Blinken strapped on a red guitar and told the crowd, 'I know that this is a really, really difficult time.'
'Your soldiers, your citizens - particularly in the northeast and Kharkiv - are suffering tremendously, but they need to know, you need to know, the United States is with you, so much of the world is with you,' Blinken said. 'And they're fighting not just for Ukraine but for the free world. And the free world is with you too.'
