Peston: Ex-NATO Secretary-General slams Russia as tensions rise - 'Putin has gone crazy!'
AN EX-NATO Secretary-General Anders described Vladimir Putin's actions as "not rational" while discussing Russia's strategy towards Ukraine on ITV's Peston programme.
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Speaking to Robert Peston on Wednesday night, Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticised Russia's strategy as tensions continue to escalate with Ukraine. The ex-Danish Prime Minister said: "The Russian behaviour right now is not rational, logical so I wouldn't exclude the possibility that Putin has gone crazy.
"We saw recently how he actually humiliated his advisor.
"So I don't think we are confronted with a person who is thinking along rational lines."
Mr Peston then asked the advisor about the possibility of getting "militarily" involved in Ukraine.
To which he replied: "Unfortunately, we can't exclude that.
"We saw already in the run-up of the second world war in the 30s.
"How dangerous it is if you give concessions through the Coopers dictator.
"We should learn from that.
"That must not happen once again.
"So, let's hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
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.@Peston: "Just to be clear, we can't eliminate the possibility that we may have to get involved militarily [in Ukraine]?"
— Peston (@itvpeston) February 23, 2022
Former NATO Secretary General @AndersFoghR: "Unfortunately we can't exclude that”
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Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia has massed "nearly 200,000 troops on Ukraine's borders and thousands of combat vehicles".
In a late-night televised speech, Zelensky switched into Russian to "address Russian citizens as a citizen of Ukraine".
He said: "Hear us.
"The Ukrainian people want peace.
"The Ukrainian authorities want peace."
He also said that Russia has approved an offensive against Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin had not replied to his invitation to hold talks.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday he had demanded an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council regarding the latest appeal of pro-Russian separatists to Russia for military assistance.
Mr Kuleba wrote on Twitter: "Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation."
A US defence official said that President Vladimir Putin has assembled "near 100 percent" of the troops the US believed he would put in place ahead of an invasion of Ukraine.
Recent estimates state that over 150,000 Russian troops have amassed near the border with Ukraine over recent months.