Blinken "convinced" Putin will try to topple Ukrainian government

PanARMENIAN.Net - Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Thursday, February 25 that he is “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to overthrow the Ukrainian government, remarks that come less than 24 hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, The Hill reports.

During an interview on ABC’s “World News Tonight,” anchor David Muir asked Blinken if he was convinced that Putin was going to overthrow the Ukrainian government.

“I’m convinced he’s going to try to do that,” Blinken answered.

Muir also asked Blinken if he believed it might be a possibility that American troops could be involved if Russian troops moved into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, beyond Ukraine.

“Is it a possibility that Putin goes beyond Ukraine? Sure, it’s a possibility, but there’s something very powerful standing in the way of that. That’s something we call Article 5 of NATO. That means an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members of NATO,” Blinken answered. “The President’s been very clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory. I think that’s the most powerful deterrent against President Putin going beyond Ukraine.”

“You know the President has said all along U.S. troops will not fight in Ukraine against the Russians, but again, this hypothetical — if he goes beyond Ukraine and into NATO — given what you just cited, that means all bets are off the table here,” Muir pressed the secretary of state.

Blinken answered that the U.S. was committed to supporting its NATO allies, saying if the situation required American assistance, “We’ll do it.”

“We’re committed to defending our NATO allies; and if it comes to that, we’ll do it. But right now, our focus is on Ukraine, our focus is on trying to prevent President Putin from going even further, but it looks like he’s going for everything he can get,” Blinken said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia resumed missile strikes at 4 a.m. on Friday, but its troops had been stopped from advancing in most directions, France 24 reports.

In a televised speech, Zelenskiy said the Russian strikes were aimed at both military and civilian targets.