Kyiv Will Never Fall into Russian Hands, Blinken Says

Russia will never be able to conquer Ukraine, including Kyiv, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during an interview with Darius Rochebin of the French news channel LCI/TF1 on Tuesday April 2.

Asked by the journalist whether the United States could promise that Kyiv would never fall into Russian hands, Blinken said: “I am convinced we already have.  In other words, it is not happening, it’s never going to happen”.

According to him, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the US anticipated the possibility of Kyiv's fall, but is now confident that this will not happen.

“But thanks to the incredible resistance of the Ukrainian people, and thanks also to the support given to Ukraine by the United States, France and other countries, Putin’s desire to conquer the whole country, to wipe it off the map, to make it part of a greater Russia, has not materialized and it won’t,” he said.

The journalist asked Blinken whether concerns about the possible use of nuclear weapons by was a reason for President Biden's apparent caution.

Blinken replied that Biden has been convinced of two things since the beginning of the war in Ukraine: they should do everything possible to support Ukraine and everything to avoid war with Russia.

“We’re doing everything, of course, to avoid this possibility and to avoid a war, a bigger war.”

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“But at the same time, we absolutely must support Ukraine, because the Russian aggression continues to this day, it continues to do appalling damage within Ukraine, and it continues to present a danger not only to Ukraine, but to Europe as well,” Blinken added.