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President Biden’s perceived regime-change comments are pushing Vladimir Putin further away from the negotiating table and could prompt the Russian dictator to show a greater show of force if he feels “locked in a corner” by the West, a former KGB agent warned Monday.
“Every time our President personally attacks Vladimir Putin, I cringe because Putin is paranoid,” Barsky said in an interview with The Story. “In his eyes, it makes no sense now to negotiate at all, because if peace comes, then he will be hunted.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via video conference on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
BIDEN TELLS PUTIN ‘CAN’T STAY IN POWER’ WHILE ASSURING UKRAINE ‘WE STAND WITH YOU’
Biden on Monday sought to clarify a comment he made over the weekend when he insisted Putin “must not remain in power” and told reporters he was expressing moral “outrage” and not calling for regime change in Moscow .
Barksy said Putin will still perceive Biden’s rhetoric as a threat, telling host Martha MacCallum, “You can go back that statement a hundred times.
President Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday, March 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
If Biden doesn’t tone down his rhetoric and fuel the Russian leader’s “paranoia” further, Putin will seek stronger measures that could have even deadlier consequences, the former KGB agent has warned.
Putin “manoeuvred himself into a corner so that he knows he’s a pariah. So why negotiate? If someone like that is sitting in a corner, be careful. He could actually take up arms that nobody wants,” he said.
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“The only thing Putin has right now is to just move on,” Barsky added. “It will end in a swamp. He may win the fight, but he will lose in the long run.”