Condoleezza Rice: Putin ‘seems erratic,’ ‘descending into something’ never personally seen before
'He was always calculating and cold. But this is different,' former Secretary of State Condoleezza said of Putin
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russian President Vladimir Putin appears "erratic" and is "descending" into something she’s never personally seen before.
"He was always calculating and cold. But this is different. He seems erratic. There is an ever-deepening, delusional rendering of history, it was always a kind of victimology about what had happened to them, but now it goes back to blaming Lenin for the foundation of Kyiv … in Ukraine," Rice said on "Fox News Sunday."
Rice has met with Putin at least a half a dozen times across her career and said he is "descending into something I haven’t personally seen before."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Matt Schlapp doesn’t think Russian President Vladimir Putin would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was in office. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool)
RUSSIAN FORCES PENETRATE UKRAINE'S SECOND-LARGEST CITY AS FOURTH DAY OF FIGHTING CONTINUES
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukraine has agreed to talks with Russian officials "without preconditions."
"We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River," Zelenskyy announced on his official Telegram channel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rice said that this meeting might signal "Russians bit off more than they can chew."
"We'll see what terms the Russians offer, and I'm sure that it's a good thing that they're going to talk. But if anything, what this may show is that Vladimir Putin expected an easy win here. He thought he would waltz into the capital, into Kyiv. In his own delusional rendering of history, Ukrainians and Russians are the same, and he would overthrow this government and might even be welcomed as a liberator. And of course, the reality has been something quite different," Rice said.
Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state, and Mike Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state, right, listen during an event hosted by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Stanford, California, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. Pompeo is planning to attend a private dinner today with tech leaders including Oracle's Larry Ellison, according to people familiar with the matter. Photographer: John G. Mabanglo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Zelenskyy announcing Sunday he will meet with Russian officials comes as Putin raised the alert status for his nuclear forces to "special regime of combat duty."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He is right now threatening a nuclear escalation," said former DIA intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler. "This a veiled threat – or maybe such a veiled threat - he just met with his chief of general staff and minister of defense. He is escalating the conflict into the nuclear domain in order to de-escalate – that is topple Kyiv’s regime quickly."
PUTIN ORDERS NUCLEAR DETERRENT FORCES STATUS RAISED TO ‘SPECIAL COMBAT READINESS’
Sunday marks the fourth day of fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine forces continued defending the capital of Kyiv into Sunday, while Russian forces penetrated Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and reportedly blew up a natural gas pipeline.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At least 64 civilians have been killed since Russia entered Ukraine last week, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Saturday. The office added that the number is likely "considerably higher."
Thousands have been left without electricity or water due to damage to infrastructure, while hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N. office.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The United Nations’ refugee agency estimated Sunday that 368,000 Ukrainians have fled the country. The number is expected to continue rising.