The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been strategic failure for Russia that would greatly diminish its power and influence for years to come.
Mr Blinken was speaking in Finland, the latest country to join NATO. It’s the highest level visit by a US official since Finland joined NATO in April.
The US diplomat stressed that where Russia had sought to divide NATO in the European Union with its invasion of Ukraine, it had only made such Alliances stronger.
He drew parallels between Finland’s experience of resisting invading Soviet forces in the winter war of 1939.
In his remarks, Blinken portrayed an increasingly isolated Russia surrounded by failures of its own making.
