Blinken joined Ukrainian musicians at a famed Kyiv bar. (File)

Kyiv, Ukraine:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was attempting to ship a message of defiance and hope when he took to the stage of a Kyiv bar on Tuesday night time for a guitar efficiency of “Rockin’ within the Free World”.

However some Ukrainians have reacted angrily, chastising Washington’s high diplomat for an ill-judged jam session within the capital whereas Ukrainian troops are combating in trenches, struggling to carry again a Russian advance amid a scarcity of weapons.

“One phrase is sufficient to describe US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s night in Kyiv yesterday: inappropriate,” mentioned Svitlana Matviyenko, head of the Company for Legislative Initiatives NGO.

Blinken is on a shock journey to Kyiv weeks after Washington accepted a $61 billion package deal of support for the nation following months of delays in Congress.

In a speech earlier on Tuesday he mentioned america would again Ukraine till its safety was “assured”.

A guitar participant who has launched a musical diplomacy initiative on the State Division, Blinken later joined Ukrainian musicians at a famed Kyiv bar, Barman Dictat, for a rendition of Neil Younger’s 1989 “Rockin’ within the Free World”.

“I do know it is a actually, actually troublesome time. Your troopers, your residents, significantly within the northeast in Kharkiv are struggling tremendously,” he mentioned on stage, holding a pink electrical guitar.

“However they should know, you might want to know, the Untied States is with you… They’re combating not only for a free Ukraine however for the free world,” he added.

Ukrainian lawmaker Bogdan Yaremenko, a former diplomat and MP from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s occasion, mentioned the efficiency was ill-timed, coming after delays to US support value Ukraine lives and territory.

“The message just isn’t onerous to grasp, but it surely’s not getting by way of,” he mentioned in a Fb publish.

Pictures of Blinken’s efficiency sparked an indignant backlash on social media.

“With all due respect, it is a mistake. The message is fallacious,” mentioned Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s ambassador to america from 2015 to 2019.

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