Antony Blinken says an independent Ukraine will be around 'a lot longer' than Putin

Antony Blinken.
(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken used an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday to remind Russian President Vladimir Putin of his mortality.

Putin decided to invade Ukraine because he wants to deny the country its "independent existence," Blinken said, but "there's going to be a Ukraine, 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."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.