There is one man who has the power to decide if there will or will not be a war between Ukraine and Russia: Vladimir Putin.
At least that’s the opinion of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken’s interview came on ABC during “Good Morning America,” where he wasn’t shy about the fact that a lot of people’s fates are in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Bottom line, are we further or closer away from war?” host George Stephanopoulos wanted to know.
Blinken’s answer was simple: “You really have to ask President Putin.”
With it being Putin’s decision to make, that also means that it’s going to be Putin dealing with the consequences, according to Blinken. “It’s ultimately going to be President Putin who decides what Russia will do. But here’s where we are: Based on what we’ve heard in the last couple of weeks, we will put in writing both some deep concerns that we and other allies and partners have about Russia’s actions, not just with regard to Ukraine but more broadly when it comes to things that it does to threaten security. We’ll address some of the concerns that Russia has raised with us, and we’ll put some ideas on the table for how we might actually strengthen each other’s sense of security going forward. And then based on that and based on Russia’s response, we anticipate that we’ll get together again across the table and see if we continue to advance this through diplomacy.”
Joined @GMA this morning to discuss the U.S. and international response to Russia’s aggressive actions toward Ukraine. We will continue building a strong, united response from allies and partners to any renewed Russian aggression. https://t.co/IKDtOUJRTY
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 21, 2022
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