Photo: David M. Russell/CBS via Getty; SERGEI GUNEYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty
One month before she died, former U.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albrightpredicted that Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine would be a “historic error.”
Albright, whodied of cancer at 84 on Wednesday, wrote afinal op-ed forThe New York Timesheadlined “Putin Is Making a Historic Mistake” on Feb. 23, on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I became the first senior U.S. official to meet with Vladimir Putin in his new capacity as acting president of Russia,” Albright wrote in the piece of an early 2000 meeting at the Kremlin that lasted nearly three hours.
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Albright referred toPutin’s claim in a Feb. 21 speechthat the eastern part of Ukraine included “ancient Russian lands,” calling it a “revisionist and absurd assertion” that amounted to an “attempt to establish the pretext for a full-scale invasion.”
“Should he invade, it will be a historic error,” Albright wrote two days later in theTimes.
The former secretary of state also predicted that punishing sanctions would devastate the Russian economy “but also his tight circle of corrupt cronies — who in turn could challenge his leadership.”
“What is sure to be a bloody and catastrophic war will drain Russian resources and cost Russian lives,” she wrote.
Indeed, NATO estimated Wednesday that between7,000 and 15,000 Russians have diedin the month-long war as Ukraine defends against its attackers, the Associated Press reports.
The fighting has now shifted into a grinding battle for control of Ukraine’s cities, with Russian forces stalled throughout the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues one month after their forces launched their large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
Russian soldiers.EyePress News/Shutterstock
With NATO forces amassed in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also offered aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyhas called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
