Hillary Clinton blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of his invasion of Ukraine, saying he is “acting out his own insecurities.”
“It’s so heartbreaking to me that Putin is acting out his own insecurities, his own resentments and grievances against the people of Ukraine — waging a war against a smaller state that is totally unprovoked,” the former secretary of State told MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday. “It really tells us everything we need to know about Putin.”
“I don’t know how it ends, but I think the person who is most surprised that it is still going on is probably Vladimir Putin,” Clinton added, referring to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, during an interview at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi.
“The level of defense and determination that the Ukrainian people are showing, starting with their president, President [Volodymyr] Zelensky, going all the way down to the grandmothers and young women taking up arms … it’s tragic, but inspiring. I hope the world will stay with Ukraine while they try to protect their homeland.”
Clinton also called on the world to provide more weapons to support Ukraine and for Putin to come to an agreement on humanitarian corridors so that the Ukrainians can get to safety.
“[T]his is not going to end quickly,” Clinton reportedly said toward the end of the interview.
“Because the Ukrainians have taken a stand, it’s going to drag on and it’s going to be incredibly brutal on part of the Russians. … I hope people will continue to pay attention to the news coverage and understand that the Ukrainians are really fighting for all of us,” she added, according to MSNBC.
During the summit, Clinton was awarded the Forbes International Women’s Day Lifetime Achievement Award, MSNBC noted.