By Simon Lewis
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brussels on Friday after a visit to Kyiv, as Washington seeks to strengthen unity as Europe faces a winter of raised energy costs.
Blinken was meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and ambassadors from the alliance, in part to report back from his trip, on which he pledged new military aid and was briefed on Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces.
A senior State Department official said ahead of the visit to Brussels that it was part of the “constant gardening” the Biden administration has been doing to maintain unity among European nations.
Some analysts say the shortages and a surge in living costs as winter approaches risk sapping Western support for Kyiv as governments try to deal with disgruntled populations.
“The most important reason I think we’re in Brussels is because what has worked so well for us thus far has been our unity – unity of purpose, unity of action,” Blinken said in Poland before taking off for Brussels.
Moscow has cited Western sanctions and technical issues for the energy disruptions. European countries who have backed Kyiv with diplomatic and military support have accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies.
European Union energy ministers were also meeting in Brussels on Friday over whether to cap Russian gas prices in hopes of shielding citizens and businesses from sky-high energy bills.
Blinken, in Poland, said he was confident Europe would take decisive action to get rid of what he called the “chokehold that Russia has on Europe” through gas supplies.
Standing up to Moscow over Ukraine “comes with costs, but the cost of inaction, of not doing anything, of allowing this to go forward, would be far greater,” Blinken said.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Editing by Louise Heavens)
