Blinken labels Putin's Ukraine strategy as ‘barbaric’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken connected Sunday denounced Russia’s efforts to “weaponize winter,” labeling its efforts to sound retired powerfulness and infrastructure successful Ukraine arsenic “barbaric.”

Speaking to big Jake Tapper connected CNN’s “State of the Union,” Blinken said Russian President Vladimir Putin has adopted scorched-Earth tactics due to the fact that his equipped forces person failed to execute its earlier conquest goals successful the warfare against Ukraine.

“Putin tried to erase Ukraine from the map, erase its identity, subsume it backmost into Russia. That failed,” Blinken said. “Then helium engaged successful a onshore grab, successful eastbound Ukraine and confederate Ukraine. That’s been failing due to the fact that the Ukrainian subject has been pushing backmost and taking backmost a batch of the territory that Putin gained.

“To your point, what he’s doing is trying to weaponize winter, crook retired the lights, crook disconnected the heat, enactment the Ukrainian radical into acheronian and acold conscionable arsenic they caput into the wintertime months. This is so barbaric.”

He added: “We’re pushing backmost precise powerfully successful our enactment for Ukraine.”

Tapper asked Blinken if the United States and its allies were making Russia wage capable of a outgo for its behavior.

“The costs are accumulating each azygous day,” Blinken said, citing the interaction of ongoing sanctions connected Russia’s warfare effort and its economy.