US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said that he’s “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin will attempt to overthrow the Ukrainian government.
Blinken made the comments during an interview on ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on Thursday in response to a question asking if he’s “convinced Putin’s going to overthrow this government.”
“I’m convinced he’s going to try to do that,” Blinken said, adding that Putin has alienated Ukrainians from Russia.
“One of the things that Vladimir Putin has done, starting back in 2014 when they first went into Ukraine, seizing Crimea, seizing a part of eastern Ukraine, is to totally alienate the Ukrainian people from Russia. Before 2014, actually, Russia was pretty popular in Ukraine,” Blinken said. “It had a 70 percent favorability rating. Right now, it’s exactly the opposite – more than the opposite. Ninety percent of Ukrainians now, if I can use the word, ‘detest’ Russia and certainly detest President Putin. My prediction would be that one way or another, they will strongly resist any effort to take away their sovereignty, take away their independence, take away their government.”