US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Brussels after a visit to Kyiv. He met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Blinken is in Brussels as Washington seeks to build unity at a time when Europe is grappling with rising energy prices. Shortfalls and a sharp rise in the cost of living as winter approaches could dampen Western support for Ukraine as governments try to deal with disaffected populations, some analysts say.
Blinken met with Stoltenberg
In Brussels, Blinken met with the NATO Secretary General and the ambassadors of the alliance countries. In particular, the Secretary of State told them about his trip to Kyiv, during which he promised to provide new military assistance and learned of Ukraine's counteroffensive.
After this meeting, Stoltenberg said that NATO believes that if Ukraine refuses to fight , it will cease to exist. In addition, NATO in the long term will provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons and ensure their transition from Soviet to Western weapons.
Stoltenberg also said that NATO is deploying new forces on the eastern border and is sending a clear message to Russia that it will defend every inch of its territory. The Alliance has already handed over a huge amount of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, reducing its stocks, but should strive to prevent the aggressor countries from winning. Therefore, according to the Secretary General of the Alliance, NATO countries need to more actively supply weapons to Ukraine from their stocks and produce new weapons.
On the same day, the energy ministers of the European Union met in Brussels. They discussed limiting the price of Russian gas in the hope of protecting citizens and businesses from sky-high energy bills.
Before his visit, Blinken said he was confident that Europe would take decisive action to get rid of from Russia's manipulation of gas supplies. According to him, the Kremlin's confrontation through Ukraine “is associated with a price, but the cost of inaction will be much higher.”
