Biden Official's Rock Performance in Kyiv Sparks Backlash in Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's rock performance in Kyiv drew criticism in Ukraine.

Blinken performed Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" with Ukrainian punk band 19.99 in Kyiv this week during a visit to the Eastern European nation as it continues to battle for control of its easternmost regions amid a Russian invasion launched in February 2022. During his visit, Blinken pledged that the United States would continue to support Ukraine despite recent delays in aid, which has been crucial to its defense efforts.

"The United States is with you. So much of the world is with you. And they're fighting, not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world. And the free world is with you, too," Blinken said during the performance.

However, the performance was met with a chilly reception by some Ukrainian politicians as footage of the performance has circulated across social media on Wednesday.

Bogdan Yaremenko, who serves as the people's deputy of Ukraine, wrote in a Facebook post the message Blinken was aiming for did not connect given delays in recent aid.

"The message is not hard to understand, but it's not getting through," he wrote, according to a translation from The Kyiv Post.

While the Biden administration and Blinken have pushed for Ukraine aid, those funds spent months held up in Congress amid opposition from some conservative Republicans who believed the money should instead be spent at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Proponents of Ukraine aid argue that helping Ukraine defend itself is in the best interests of U.S. security as well as Ukraine, as it will result in a weakened Russia. Congress last month passed the foreign aid bill, which included $60 billion for Ukraine.

"Half a year of waiting for the decision of the American Congress—to allocate money to swing in a free and still alive Ukraine, or after all on the wall with Mexico, took the lives of many, many defenders of the free world. Losses that could have been avoided if we had something to conduct a counter-battery fight and push the Russian aviation away from the front line," Yaremenko wrote.

Valeriy Chaly, the former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, said, "With all due respect, it's a mistake. The message is wrong," according to the Post.

Svitlana Matvienko, executive director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, wrote in a Facebook post that she found the performance to be inappropriate, noting the performance came as Russia launched a new offensive in the Kharkiv oblast.

"Kharkiv region is wiped off the face of the earth, people are leaving their homes, Kharkiv is under constant blows of CABs, Sumy region is preparing, and a top US official sings songs in a Kiev bar," she wrote.

She continued, "Yet all this is also about a complete misunderstanding of the situation and a very specific feeling of empathy. And I am amazed at how the global bargaining machine of pundits/advisors/bureaucrats digested this unsuccessful idea."

Newsweek reached out to the State Department for comment via its online contact form.

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