Andrei Kozirev, Russia ‘s former foreign minister, has spoken out BBC that Putin “miscalculated everything”, from the reaction of the West, the strengthening of NATO to the use of gas as a strategic weapon.
Vladimir PutinPhoto: Screenshot
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He criticized Putin’s results, saying Russia was “declining” because it was too dependent on commodity exports.
Kozirev was Foreign Minister in Boris Yeltsin’s government in the 1990s.
The West reacted quickly at the ultimatum given by Russian President Vladimir Putin “unfriendly” states that buy gas from Russia, to pay in rubles from Friday, because otherwise their gas will be cut off. The general opinion is that the gas received from Russia will also be paid in euros, because this is what the contracts stipulate.
All the “unfriendly countries” – including Romania – that buy gas from Russia must pay in rubles, starting on Friday, otherwise the contracts will be terminated, according to a decree signed on Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The head of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, considers his position Vladimir Putin “weakened” after the invasion of Ukraine and that, in many ways, “Putin has already lost,” writes EFE.
However, Vladimir Putin’s popularity has risen by 12% in Russia in the last month, according to a survey by the independent institute Levada.
About 83 percent of Russians approve of Vladimir Putin’s decisions, up 12 percent from February, according to a poll released by Russia’s independent institute Levada on Thursday, the first poll since the start of the Ukrainian offensive, AFP reports.
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