Blinken: An independent Ukraine will be around 'a lot longer' than Putin.

There will be an independent Ukraine for "a lot longer" than there is going to be a Vladimir Putin

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this in an interview with CNN, Ukrinform reports.

"First of all, 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," Blinken said.

He added that the U.S. is trying to prevent as much death and destruction as possible right now.

"The real question is how much death and destruction is wrought by Russia's aggression in the meantime, and that's what we're working as hard as we can to limit, to stop, to put an end to the war of choice that Russia is committing. We're doing that through the support we're providing Ukraine every single day. We're doing that by the pressure we're exerting against Russia every single day," Blinken said.

He expressed hope that the death and destruction can be ended "sooner rather than later."

U.S. President Joe Biden on March 15 signed into law a bill allocating $13.6 billion as an emergency response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

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