Jeremy Vine guest on consequences of Putin assassination
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Presenter Simon Thomas has expressed concern that the hypothetical assassination of Vladimir Putin could lead to worse elements in Russia taking over. Mr Thomas raised doubts on Jeremy Vine over the outcome for security in the region if Putin was removed from office or killed.
Mr Thomas told Jeremy Vine: “The question is what comes next if that happens if Putin is taken out by one of the generals or the people around him, what comes next?
“Because my fear is is a very real danger if we do this, you know, that phrase, you know, you cut off the head of the snake and you kill the snake. But what comes next?
“What comes next? Is this sparking even bigger war? Is it turn Putin into a martyr to style figure in Russia that will therefore only up his support?
“I mean, it’s really difficult at the moment working out what’s going on in terms of opinion this is like the information war as well.”
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US Senator Lindsey Graham called on the Russian people to “step up to the plate.”
Writing on Twitter, he said: “Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?
The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.”
“The only people who can fix this are the Russian people,” Senator Graham continued.
“Easy to say, hard to do.
“Unless you want to live in darkness for the rest of your life, be isolated from the rest of the world in abject poverty, and live in darkness you need to step up to the plate.”
Lindsey Graham calls for Putin to be 'taken out'
Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov reacted with fury to the comments, demanding an immediate retraction.
He said: “I find the statement of the American politician unacceptable and outrageous.
“The degree of Russophobia and hatred in the US towards Russia is off the charts. It’s unbelievable that a senator of a country that promotes its moral values as a ‘guiding star’ for all mankind could afford to call for terrorism as a way to achieve Washington’s goals in the international arena.
“It’s getting scary for the fate of the United States, which has such irresponsible and unprofessional politicians at the helm.
“We demand official explanations and decisive condemnation of this American’s criminal statements.”
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, rights groups have alleged violations of international war crimes law, including the targeting of civilians, as well as indiscriminate attacks on schools and hospitals.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that he believed Putin’s actions toward Ukraine already qualified as a war crime. And Canada said on Tuesday it had decided to refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK Government is doing “all we can to support the Ukrainians”.
Speaking in Brussels, Ms Truss said she was holding various meetings to show “the strength of our unity in challenging Vladimir Putin, in stopping Vladimir Putin, in Ukraine”.
“We’re doing all we can to support the Ukrainians through defensive weapons, where the UK led – we were the first European country to donate defensive weapons, and we’re also going to be talking about sanctions.”
She said sanctions were having a “big effect in Russia” but she said she was looking at how to speed up the process. We’ve sanctioned more companies than our counterparts across the world, we’ve just sanctioned two more major oligarchs last night,” she said.
“What I’m doing is looking at how we can speed up that process to make even more progress on that front.
“The number one thing (that’s) important though, is that we are unified with our partners across the world in putting the toughest ever sanctions we’ve had on Russia.”
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