Ukraine's foreign minister says Putin's 'ultimate goal is to destroy Ukraine'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin's "ultimate goal is to destroy Ukraine."

Kuleba made this bold statement on Tuesday during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. On Monday, Putin signed a decree recognizing two separatist regions of Ukraine as independent, and ordered troops to the areas on a "peacekeeping" mission. Kuleba told Tapper it's clear that Putin "is not interested in parts of Ukraine. He is not interested in even keeping the entire country in his control. He wants idea of the Ukrainian statehood to fail."

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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.