Blinken Calls Russia’s Military the ‘Second-Strongest in Ukraine’

Russia’s military has sustained losses so significant that it can only be considered the “second-strongest in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a speech at Helsinki City Hall today.

His trip in Finland came after the Nordic country’s admission to NATO earlier this year. Blinken used the occasion to offer what might be his most extensive remarks yet on the Biden administration’s position on ending the war in Ukraine.

He argued that the invasion has made Russia worse off than it was before, when “the Kremlin often claimed it had the second-strongest military in the world, and many believed it.”

“Today, many see Russia’s military as the second-strongest in Ukraine,” he added. “Its equipment, technology, leadership, troops, strategy, tactics, and morale, a case study in failure — even as Moscow inflicts devastating, indiscriminate, and gratuitous damage on Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

Blinken cited estimates that Russian forces have experienced more than 100,000 casualties over the past six months, “as Putin sends wave after wave of Russians into a meat grinder of his own making.”

The lengthy address sought to outline Washington’s outlook on a potential settlement to the war today and explain why the U.S. doesn’t view a potential cease-fire in the immediate future as likely to last and lead to a durable peace.

He conceded that “on the surface, that sounds sensible, attractive even.” But he explained: “A ceasefire that simply freezes current lines in place and enables Putin to consolidate control over the territory he’s seized, and then rest, rearm, and reattack — that is not a just and lasting peace. It’s a Potemkin peace.”

In his speech, Blinken also said that the U.S. would embrace a peace process led by Brazil, China, or any other nation, provided that it furthers the aims of the U.N. Charter, includes Ukraine, and ends Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.