Blinken: Russia Invading Ukraine Isn’t a Failure of U.S. Diplomacy, Diplomacy Brought ‘the World Together’ ‘in Standing up’ to Russia

On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not a failure of U.S. diplomacy, and that, to the contrary, diplomacy actually “succeeded very effectively” at “bringing the world together, the United States and Europe together in standing up to Russian aggression.”

Host Norah O’Donnell asked, “The U.S. has been warning Ukraine that a full-scale invasion is imminent. The president’s swift and severe sanctions have not deterred the Russians. So, does that mean this was a failure of American diplomacy?”

Blinken answered, “To the contrary. First of all, diplomacy succeeded very effectively in bringing the world together, the United States and Europe together in standing up to Russian aggression. At the same time, we’ve made it clear that, if Russia continues to escalate, if it engages in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine — beyond what it’s already doing — we’ll escalate too. And I hope that that knowledge may still act as a deterrent. But if it doesn’t, we’ve been clear that Russia will face massive consequences for its actions, and it will.”

In another interview on NBC, Blinken said that “everything is in place for Russia to move forward.”

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