Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is obvious Russian President Vladimir Putin has goals beyond Ukraine and may have other countries in his sights. “When President Biden addressed the nation today, he said that Putin wants a new Soviet Union. Is there intelligence to suggest that President Putin will advance beyond Ukraine?”

“CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell asked Blinken in an interview on Thursday. “You don’t need intelligence to tell you that that’s exactly what President Putin wants,” the top U.S. diplomat said. “He’s made clear that he’d like to reconstitute the Soviet empire.


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Short of that, he’d like to reassert a sphere of influence around neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc. And short of that, he’d like to make sure that all of these countries are somehow neutral.” Blinken was asked by ABC News on Thursday night whether he felt the Russian president would recall his forces once Ukraine was conquered.

‘Is it a possibility that Putin goes beyond Ukraine? Sure, it’s a possibility,’ Blinken told host David Muir. But he stressed that progressing beyond Ukraine into neighboring Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania would mean invading a NATO member country, and would automatically draw in the US, UK, France, Canada, and the other nations that form the 30-country alliance.

‘There is something very powerful standing in the way of that, and it’s something we call Article Five,’ said Blinken. ‘That means an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members of NATO,’ Blinken added. ‘The president has been very clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory.’

Blinken said he believed this would be the ‘most powerful deterrent’ against Putin taking his artillery beyond Ukraine. However, Blinken remains certain Putin will try to bring about regime change in Ukraine. ‘You’re convinced Putin’s gonna overthrow this government?’ Muir asked. ‘I’m convinced he’s going to try to do that.’