Blinken: Putin’s declaration of martial law in Ukraine ‘speaks to his desperation’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent declaration of martial law in annexed regions of Ukraine “speaks to his desperation” in his faltering war.

“I think it’s another sign of Putin’s desperation,” Blinken told “Good Morning America” in an interview set to air on Thursday. 

“Just in the last few weeks, he’s tried to mobilize more forces. He’s gone through with this sham annexation of Ukrainian territory,” Blinken said. “Now, in saying he’s declared martial law in places that he claims have people that somehow want to be part of Russia, that speaks to his desperation.”

Putin on Wednesday declared martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that he annexed late last month. The order — which did not provide much detail as to what the martial law declaration will entail — went into effect on Thursday.

Blinken is not the first to suggest that Putin’s latest moves indicate a sense of desperation. As the Russian president called up 300,000 additional troops and doubled down on his nuclear threats last month, retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe, said Putin appeared to be “quite desperate.”

Former CIA Director and retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said earlier this month that he thinks Putin is “literally out of moves.”

“The reality on the battlefield now is desperate for Putin,” Petraeus said. “There’s literally nothing he can do. It is irreversible.”