Blinken calls war in Ukraine a ‘devastating, strategic failure’ for Putin
Jack Birle
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Russians are questioning the premises of the War in Ukraine, after a brief revolt by the private mercenary group, the Wagner Group, earlier this weekend.
Blinken said that the war in the neighboring country has been a “devastating, strategic failure” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, while speaking on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
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“So much that is beneath the surface has now surfaced. In terms of questioning the very premise for the war, in terms of questioning the conduct of the war, in terms of questioning what good this has actually done for Russia, and it’s been exactly the opposite,” Blinken said.
“This has been a devastating, strategic failure for Putin across virtually every front — economic, military, geopolitical standing — and fundamentally what it’s done or not done for the Russian people,” he added.
Blinken also said that the focus of the United States is still on the war in Ukraine, despite the internal episode within Russia.
“Having said that, Putin, of course, has put in place a state that’s designed around him with control of the media, control of the information space. So, again, I don’t think it’s right for us to speculate on where this may go,” Blinken said.
“We’re intensely focused on Ukraine, which we’ve been all along, and that is making sure they have what they need to defend the country and to take back territory that has been seized by Russia over the last 16 months,” he added.
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Blinken also expressed on Sunday that the brief rebellion by the Wagner Group showed that there are “cracks” in Russia’s leadership that were not previously known.
The brief rebellion saw the Wagner Group head toward Moscow, after expressing discontent with Russian military leadership before talks between Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin, brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, lead the private mercenary group to turn around.