Blinken: Independent Ukraine will be around lot longer than Putin is on scene

"The bottom line is this. We don't know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign independent Ukraine will be around a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene," Blinken said, speaking at a news conference near the Polish-Ukrainian border after the meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, CNN reports.

According to him, the US support for Ukraine will continue until its final success in the confrontation with Russia.

"And our support for Ukraine going forward will continue. It will continue until we see final success [of Ukraine]," Blinken added.

Ukraine will be able to defeat Russia if it has the necessary weapons, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin stressed.

“In terms of their [Ukrainians’] ability to win – the first step in winning is believing that you can win. And so, they believe that we can win. We believe that they can win, if they have the right [military] equipment, the right support, and we're going to do everything we can and continue to do everything we can,” Austin told reporters.

As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who arrived on a visit to Ukraine. The parties discussed strengthening sanctions against the Russian Federation and providing defense assistance, financial support, and security guarantees to Ukraine.