Blinken visits Kyiv and tries to rally Ukrainian spirits as Russia makes gains

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky greets US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Kyiv, Ukraine (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has sought to rally the spirits of Ukrainians facing a fierce new Russian offensive, assuring them they are not alone and that billions of dollars in American military aid on its way to the country will make a “real difference” on the battlefield.

After a day of meetings with senior officials, civil society figures and university students during which he exhorted them against being discouraged, Mr Blinken took to the stage at a Kyiv bar to play rhythm guitar with a local band on Neil Young’s 1989 hit Rockin’ In The Free World.