Russia’s ex-PM says Vladimir Putin ‘out of it’, Ukraine war could last two years
- Mikhail Kasyanov, Russia’s prime minister from 2000 to 2004, speaks about the war in Ukraine and his former boss Vladimir Putin
- If Ukraine falls to Russia, the Baltic states will be next, he said, and that Putin will eventually be replaced by a ‘quasi-successor’
He was Vladimir Putin’s first prime minister but Mikhail Kasyanov never in his worst nightmares imagined that his former boss would unleash a full-scale war on Ukraine.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse in a video interview, Kasyanov, Russia’s prime minister from 2000 to 2004, said he expected the war could last up to two years but he was convinced Russia could return to a democratic path.
The 64-year-old, who championed close ties with the West as prime minister, said that, like many other Russians, he did not believe in the weeks ahead of the war that it would actually happen.
Kasyanov only understood that Putin was not bluffing when he saw him summon the country’s top leadership for a theatrical meeting of the security council three days before the invasion on February 24.
“When I saw the meeting of Russia’s Security Council I realised, yes, there will be a war,” Kasyanov said.
He added that he felt that Putin was already not thinking properly.