Independent Ukraine will outlast Vladimir Putin’s reign, says Blinken

In a conversation with American journalist Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there will be an independent Ukraine “a lot longer than there’s going to be a Vladimir Putin.”

“One way or the other, Ukraine will be there and at some point Putin won’t,” Blinken told Blitzer on ‘The Situation Room’.

Blinken’s comments come from Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, with new satellite imagery displaying widespread wreckage and destruction across the war-hit country, including demolished houses in a village near Kyiv. According to Ukrainian officials, over 2,500 civilians have died in the city of Mariupol.

“The real question is how much death and destruction is wrought by Russia‘s aggression in the meantime, and that’s what we’re working as hard as we can to limit, to stop, to put an end to this war of choice that Russia is committing,” Blinken said. 

“We’re doing that through the support we’re providing Ukraine every single day. We’re doing that by the pressure we’re exerting against Russia every single day.”

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Blinken added that he hopes that death and destruction can come to an end “sooner rather than later.”

On Tuesday, Blinken announced providing an additional humanitarian aid of $186 million for refugees and displaced civilians in Ukraine. 

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“The United States is providing over $186 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support internally displaced persons and the more than three million refugees affected by Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war in Ukraine,” he said.

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“This will provide further support for humanitarian organizations responding to the crisis and complement the generosity of the neighboring countries that are welcoming and supporting refugees,” Blinken added.