Antony Blinken Salutes Ukraine’s Unshaken Resolve Against Vladimir Putin: ‘He Is Destined to Lose’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Vladimir Putin is “destined to lose” the war for Ukraine as Russia continues its military onslaught against the country, and the Ukrainian people are fighting back hard.

Blinken spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday for State of the Union, where he was asked why the U.S. and its allies have not directly intervened in Ukraine yet. Even though sanctions and international penalties have devastated the Russian economy, Tapper pointed out there is more that could be done, and Russia has yet to stop its march through Ukraine.

Blinken responded by defending the “extraordinary pressure that’s already been exerted on Russia” from the sanctions put in place by NATO and America’s allies in Europe. After defending the effectiveness of the aid America provided to Ukraine so far, Blinken offered his hypothesis on why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an inevitable failure for Putin.

Vladimir Putin has, unfortunately, the capacity with the sheer manpower that he has in Ukraine and the overmatch he has, the ability to keep grinding things down against incredibly resilient and courageous Ukrainians. I think we have to be prepared for this to last for some time. But just winning a battle is not winning the war. Taking a city does not mean he’s taking the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people. On the contrary, he is destined to lose. The Ukrainian people have demonstrated they will not allow themselves to be subjugated to Vladimir Putin or Russia’s rule.

Blinken continued to acknowledge the war could drag on, however, and Ukrainians are facing a humanitarian crisis that continues to grow.

“The suffering is real. It’s terrible,” Blinken said. “I met with people who are refugees from Ukraine, who have been forced to flee, women and children in neighboring countries, the men remaining in Ukraine to fight. We’re doing everything we can to bring this to an end as quickly as we can, but this may go on for a while.”

Watch above, via CNN.