Russian President Vladimir Putin has set his sights on other countries in addition to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News on Thursday evening.
Driving the news: The Russian military stepped up its bombing campaign against Ukraine on Thursday, killing dozens of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers.
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What he’s saying: “You don’t need intelligence to tell you” that establishing a new Soviet Union is “exactly” what Putin wants, Blinken told “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell.
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“He’s made clear that he’d like to reconstitute the Soviet empire. Short of that, he’d like to reassert a sphere of influence around neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc,” Blinken continued.
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“And short of that, he’d like to make sure that all of these countries are somehow neutral.”
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