Antony Blinken belts out Neil Young's 'Rockin in the Free World' at Ukraine bar

Antony Blinken, the United States's secretary of state, on Tuesday delivered a message for Ukraine in a rather unusual but cheerful fashion.

Blinken, 62, who landed in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on an unannounced visit on Tuesday, visited a local bar where he got behind a microphone with a left-handed red guitar to convey a message of support to the people of the war-torn country.

The top US diplomat joined the band 19.99 on stage, playing Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" while showing off his musical talents. 

Before belting out the 1989 hit on stage alongside the band, Blinken spoke to the audience saying: "I know this is a difficult time. Your soldiers, your citizens — particularly in the northeast and Kharkiv — are suffering tremendously.

"But they need to know, you know that 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."

The US secretary of state played the song with the chorus "keep on rockin' in the free world".

Young's rock anthem was released just before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The song was first performed at a time when the Soviet Union was hit by nationwide protests, resulting in the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with a number of nations, including Ukraine, gaining independence.