The United States must do "everything we can to convince" Russian President Vladimir Putin that he can't win the war against Ukraine by prolonging it, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday. 

"He believes if he throws in the Russian way of war — mass at the problem, poor boys from Dagestan who are just kind of cannon fodder — if he engages in terrorist activities against the Ukrainian population, he'll wear the Ukrainians down; he'll wear us down; he'll wear the Europeans down," Rice said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I don't think that's right, but we have to do everything that we can to convince him that it is indeed wrong."

That means that whoever runs for the White House in 2024 must understand the "essence of this conflict" and the fact that "we are defending not just Ukrainian independence, but we are defending a rules-based system that says might doesn't make right; you can't just extinguish your neighbor," Rice said. 

Some people say the full concentration should be on China, but Chinese President Xi Jinping is not only watching Ukraine but "he's even considering getting in on the side of the Russians," said Rice. 

She also urged candidates in the upcoming election to "be careful what you say" about the Russia-Ukraine war. 

"If the American people see a world in which Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have won this engagement — this first volley, if you will — in the largest strategic picture, and they see that Ukrainian independence has been extinguished, and they know that the United States could have done something about it, I don't think that's going to be a very good message for a future president to have to deliver," Rice said, adding that the next president will have to deal with the aftermath of the war. 

"Remember dates 1914, 1941, 2001; these conflicts always come home," she said. 

Rice also said Sunday she believes the Biden administration's policies on Ukraine are headed in the "right direction" and that it's crucial for the United States to continue to support Ukraine as part of the coalition between European and NATO allies. 

However, the administration must anticipate what Ukraine needs to continue fighting back against Russia, as "we sometimes seem to be a little bit behind in what we provide to the Ukrainians," said Rice.

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