Russian President Vladimir Putin will succeed in his bid to seize Ukrainian territory if the United States halts support for Kyiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday. “I can guarantee you that without our support, Putin will be successful,” Austin told a Senate hearing on supplemental funding for national security priorities including Ukraine, for which $44.4 billion has been requested. “If we pull the rug out from under them now, Putin will only get stronger and he will be successful in doing what he wants to do in acquiring his neighbor’s sovereign territory,” Austin said.