Rome, 15 May 2024 – Diplomacy, armaments, pizza and rock. Yesterday’s visit could be summarized with these words Antony BlinkenUS secretary of state, went to Kiev to confirm US support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Blinken, between one diplomatic commitment and another, managed to carve out a few lighter moments: he did it at lunch, when he ate in the a veteran’s pizzeriaand in the evening, when he played with a rock band in a pub, in the center of the capital of the invaded country.
Blinken plays in the Barman Dictat pub in Kiev
Lunch at the pizzeria
For lunch the important American guest and Kiev’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, ate in a small restaurant in the centre, “Vetarano Pizza”. The pizzeria was founded and is managed by Leonid Ostaltsev, a veteran who in 2014 fought in the Donbass. Numerous war veterans work in the restaurant and often bring free pizzas to wounded soldiers who are hospitalized in city hospitals.
The evening of rock
In the evening Blinken instead went to a pub, the Barman Dictat. Here, the head of US diplomacy, wearing jeans and a black shirt, performed with a band singing the famous Neil Young song “Rockin in a free world”. A carefree and fun moment, which has gone viral on all social media, but which is also a political message, a reference to the free world fighting against dictatorial regimes. “I know these are really difficult times. Your soldiers, your citizens, especially in the north-east, in Kharkiv, suffer a lot. But you must know that the United States is with you and that the free world is with you,” the diplomat said from the stage of the pub.
Moscow’s comment
The visit of Biden’s secretary of state and the video of the performance in the pub were commented on by the spokeswoman for the Moscow Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who compared the trip to “visit of Satan“: “What is this? A squalid visit by Satan to Kiev to control the pace of human sacrifice to the American golden calf.”
