Ukraine war: Vladimir Putin would sacrifice 20 million soldiers to win and ensure political survival, exiled diplomat says
Vladimir Putin would sacrifice 20 million Russian soldiers to win the war with Ukraine and ensure his political survival, an exiled Russian diplomat has said.
Boris Bondarev, who quit Russia’s permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva over the war, told Sky News Mr Putin’s “luck is over”.
Speaking to Beth Rigby, he said: “I think the 20 years of him in power have been very lucky for him.
“He is not smart, he is just lucky. Now I think his luck is over.”
Mr Bondarev, who worked in nuclear disarmament, described the level of Mr Putin’s desperation – saying he is prepared to see more than a tenth of the population killed in the conflict.
“After losing the war, he will have to explain to his elites and his population why it is so and he may find some problems in explaining this.
“And after that there may be opposition who will try to depose him or he will try to purge his subordinates to find some people who could be blamed for all these problems. There will be a period of internal turmoil.
“You should have no doubt about it, he may sacrifice 10 or 20 million Russians just to win this war just to slaughter all Ukrainians because it’s a matter of principle. It’s a matter of political survival to him.
“You have to understand that, if he loses the war, it will be the end for him.
Mr Putin’s decision to expand Russian forces by 137,000 troops next year has led to accusations he is leading young, inexperienced conscripts to their deaths.
Others have claimed they are being tricked and misled.
Pic: AP
Two months of fear before he could quit Russia mission
Mr Bondarev, who is based in Geneva, said he made his decision to quit when tanks crossed the Ukrainian border in February, but he could not leave until May.
“I had some affairs to be settled before I quit,” he told Beth Rigby Interviews. “My cat was in Moscow at the time, so we had to get him back to Geneva and it took three months.
“During these two months I was very afraid.
“After the war started they [colleagues] all turned out to be warmongering and very content with what is going on.”
He, however, said he could “no longer work for this government, this country” … “making war crimes and terrible mistakes and crimes against our future generations”.
He admitted he “did not believe President Putin was seriously going to start the war” before it happened.
But now, as intelligence officials warn the Kremlin may be planning a nuclear strike in the Black Sea, Mr Bondarev claims it is not a threat that should be taken lightly.
“I believe that there can be some plans to somehow deploy nuclear weapons during this war in Ukraine,” he said.
“The West, I think, must be consistent to remove Putin because while he and his regime is still in power in Russia, the threat of nuclear war will not go anywhere.”
He added that the Russian leader is using the nuclear button to “compel other countries to whatever he wants”, which he says is a “new level of history of nuclear weapons” and a “very dangerous development”.
Putin hosts a meeting of the Russian security council
Calls for NATO involvement
Mr Bondarev suggested that, as “Putin thinks he’s already waging the Third World War”, NATO should consider entering the conflict.
NATO expansion in eastern Europe was one of the main reasons Mr Putin cited for starting the war.
Most intelligence officials agree NATO’s formal involvement would lead to a major escalation.
But Mr Bondarev said: “They [the Ukrainians] need offensive weapons, more long-range missiles, aircraft.
“So I think NATO must double down the efforts and help.”
He added that while Mr Putin is vehemently anti-NATO, the views of the Russian people are different.
“Russian people, especially younger generations, they don’t see NATO as some kind of existential enemy, they are totally okay with that, as NATO is a defensive organisation,” he said.
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In full: Beth Rigby interviews Boris Bondarev
On hopes of getting China’s President Xi Jinping to help deescalate tensions with the Kremlin, he was doubtful.
“The problem is that China is not very much interested in the defeat of Putin, especially by Ukrainians and by Westerners.
“Because now Putin is attracting a lot of attention from the US, the attention that they refocus on China instead.”
World
Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Read more: What’s a bear market?
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?
Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
World
Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem
South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Read more from Sky News:
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
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