President Biden on Monday touted the U.S.’s role in rallying the world in defense of Ukraine, declaring that Russian President Vladimir Putin had failed in each of his objectives. “When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he’d conquer Kyiv in a matter of days. But the truth is, since that war began, I’m the only one that’s stood in the center of Kyiv, not him. Putin never has!” the president said at the State Department in one of his final foreign policy speeches. “It was a long train ride,” he joked about the February 2023 trip. “But I’m the only commander-in-chief to visit a war zone not controlled by U.S. forces.” President Biden said he had two objectives when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022: marshal the free world in support of Ukraine and avoid a direct war between two nuclear powers. “We did both those things,” he said. “Today, Ukraine is still a free, independent country with the potential, potential for a bright future.” By contrast, he said President Putin, three years later, had failed to achieve any of his goals in Ukraine. “He has failed thus far to subjugate Ukraine, failed to break the unity of NATO, and failed to make large territorial gains,” the outgoing president said. Watch more at c-span.org
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