The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, told the BBC he was confident Ukraine would be able to win its war with Russia. He could not say how long the conflict would last, but insisted that Ukraine's defeat was not inevitable. “The extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people.
If Moscow intends to try to overthrow the government and install its own puppet regime, 45 million Ukrainians will resist it one way or another. The war has not gone as planned by Russian President Vladimir Putin," said Blinken, quoted from the BBC, Saturday 5 March 2022. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Indonesia
Loud resistance by Ukrainian forces continued to hinder Russian advances in Ukraine on the ninth day of the invasion. To the south, Russian troops captured areas along the Black Sea, and the port city of Mariupol remained under siege.
However, Governor Mykolaiv said Russian troops had been driven out of the city. In addition, the city of Kharkiv, in the north, was also besieged by Russian troops. Blinken said the international community was committed to doing everything it could to help Ukraine, as well as to put excruciating pressure on Russia to end the war.
Blinken said emphatically that Ukraine would win, but he couldn't say for sure about the timing.
“Over time, of course Ukraine will win. I can't tell you how long this will last. I can't tell you how long it will take. But the idea that Russia can subdue the 45 million people who are persistently fighting for their future and their freedom, it can't just stick a thumbs up in Ukraine," Blinken said.
Blinken also said he was concerned about an escalation. "This is something that we care about and focus on because the only thing worse than a war being held back in Ukraine is a war that escalates further and beyond."
He warned that Russian troops were using increasingly brutal methods against civilians in Ukraine, and that there was tremendous human suffering as a result.
“We see Russia chasing critical infrastructure that blocks Ukraine's water, cutting off their electricity, turning off their heating. Those methods are, sadly, tragically part of Russia's guidelines under President Putin. And I think we're probably going to see a lot more of that," Blinken said.
