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Date: 2025-08-22 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028605

RUSSIA A FAILING PUTIN! Times Radio: 'Putin came very close to being assassinated' as Ukraine targets his helicopters with drones Diane Francis of the National Post, PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osvo3TZNiHI Peter Burgess COMMENTARY My impression is that this bit of 'news' has been substantially overblown. Certainly it would be good if Putin could disappear from power ... but that is unlikely. He probably has more security than any person on the planet! Peter Burgess
'Putin came very close to being assassinated' as Ukraine targets his helicopters with drones Times Radio May 27, 2025 1.44M subscribers ... 491,968 views ... 12K likes ✪ Members first on May 27, 2025 Frontline \| The War in Ukraine and Global Security Long range strikes into Russia and assassinations of Kremlin insiders could push Putin to abandon his conquest of Ukraine, says Editor at large at The National Post, Diane Francis. Join this channel to get access to perks - / @listentotimesradio 📻 Listen to Times Radio - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio 🗞 Subscribe to The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/subscribe/... 📲 Get the free Times Radio app https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/how-... Explore the podcast 958 episodes Transcript 0:00 he came very close to being assassinated recently by a Ukrainian drone that took down a helicopter at his fleet He's had very important brass military and other people around him assassinated by Ukrainian special operations They're all over the place and the Ukrainians are really good at what they do and they're they're getting in there They're destroying facilities They're impeding oil flows They're doing whatever they can And so this is maybe another another reason why uh Putin isn't going to look for an outright exit right away but he'll welcome an exit that gives him some kind of reasonable glory Trump has further warned in those comments that if Putin did try to take the rest of Ukraine it would lead to Russia's downfall Now those are just words but in a way is he right and and perhaps more importantly how's Putin going to feel about those comments well Putin doesn't take any notice of of anything anyone says He wants to uh 1:01 recreate the USSR Uh Ukraine's just the beginning and you know that's his intention But I think that what he when he talks about ruining Russia there is only one thing that could really do major damage and that's something that he did not invoke when he was talking to him on the phone and that is the fact that Congress has prepared a diabolically draconian set of tariffs against all of Russia's oil customers of 500% This means China and India It means everybody It means Hungary and Serbia everybody who's you know accessory to the enemy And if those were imposed uh that would be very that would dry up his oil his oil revenue And that is how he finances the war It would also discombobulate all of his allies And so you know he's got it within his reach right now Trump without getting involved 2:01 in military action He's got it within his reach right now to just give permission to the Senate and the House to proceed with what apparently already has enough votes to proceed and that is 500% tariffs on anybody who buys Russian oil And and how much of a message does that send then to to Russia's allies as well well I mean we we already know that Russia's been struggling with the reduction in the in the oil price on the world stage Um this is something that Putin is actually going to be worried about isn't it um worried is not the right word I think he takes note of it but I think he has I think he's figured out Trump is all as they say in Texas all hat and no cattle He's not he's not following through He he has this procedure this process which I think I I mentioned in my recent Substack that's now been nicknamed taco and that is uh Trump always chickens out You know he'll 3:03 announce something and then he'll back off And he's done this with every tariff deal with everything And so I think Putin doesn't believe I don't I think he's lost his credibility And I think Putin is fearless too Europe are pushing ahead with these sanctions that were were proposed uh over a week ago now Um are they going to have an impact alone or are we really just waiting for the US to come to the same conclusion and and put their own sanctions on i think a pile on is necessary I think that you know Europe Europe's 17th package of sanctions is helpful The other thing that I like about the new chancellor of Germany Maris is that he is a he is pushing to seize the 300 so billion dollars frozen of Russian assets and allocated to Ukraine's defense andor rebuilding Uh their 5% uh totals a half a trillion dollars Uh this is not kids 4:02 kids play money Uh Germany is phenomenally wealthy and and so you if you've got this kind of uh backing Russia's not going to stop what it's doing because it doesn't need to but when it needs to it will And what other actions should we be watching for from Europe that that could also have an impact well uh I think that diplomatically Europe is going to continue to be important Uh I think isolating Putin and Russia the oil thing has to be attacked I think what I like the best about their new uh sanctions are although I don't think they go far enough but they're not going to target the shadow ships that enable the cash flow for the war by stopping the oil tankers from going through the Black Baltic and whatever seas to get to China and India and make a lot of money If you have the shadow uh the shadow navy being attacked at the same time you know Lindsey Graham the senator in the US has 5:00 his bill his 500% tariffs put on China and Russia for for buying oil uh from uh China and India for buying Russian oil I think you've got a a a two- punch knockout here and and that could be even if not fully implemented going to be extremely difficult I don't see him surrendering but I see him maybe deescalating and just hoping that it you know just keeping it where it is I mean he's grabbed 20% of the country And you know we talk a bit about the battlefield there Of course Ukraine are continuing their own direct strikes on Russian oil infrastructure aren't they that's going to have an impact too isn't it and and that that really is going to grab the Kremlin's attention right it is and I think it already has And I think that with the muscular backing of Germany and Europe and the Americans continuing uh you're going to see them being able to do with impunity more of these attacks inside Russia which isn't going to bring down 6:01 his regime but is going to be annoying And hey may have a lucky target May hit the lucky target Uh he came very close to being assassinated recently by a Ukrainian drone that took down a helicopter at his fleet He's had very important brass military and other people around him assassinated by Ukrainian special operations They're all over the place and the Ukrainians are really good at what they do and they're they're getting in there They're destroying facilities They're impeding oil flows They're doing whatever they can And so this is maybe another another reason why uh Putin isn't going to look for an outright exit right away but he'll welcome an exit that gives him some kind of reasonable glory And as you say there there really was something of a close call uh for Putin recently and that I believe it was on his visit to Kursk on the return from that his helicopter was essentially 7:00 caught up uh in the middle of this strike The Russian military seemed to try and project that as some sort of victory but that's really going to put the dampeners on Putin's visit to Kur to kind of try and project a a sense of victory isn't it well I think the important thing and and also we saw that remember he wanted to make a big big uh charade out of his victory day in May by inviting all the heads of state and most of them didn't go because because it was and he he actually asked Ukraine to to hold off on attacking Moscow during his parade and and they wouldn't of course give him that promise and if they could have they would have but it did keep a lot of people away from it It was embarrassing uh it it showed him as it showed weakness and you know I think he's got to understand that his that his na days are numbered and and his his military is is still not performing very well uh in the in the battlefield and we've been 8:01 talking a lot about the move from from Europe and Germany to to militarize more but is that really what's going to well what is going to worry Putin more is it that European militarization at home or or should some more of that effort be going into supporting Ukraine do you think well I think he's worried Uh I mean I think what he's been trying to do is divide the US and Europe and he's done a pretty good job of doing that so far They've done it to themselves Uh I think though however what I what I wanted to point out in my article recently is that um you know Trump is talking about 50% tariffs against European manufactured goods which is you know opening up a second problem for Europe Uh however what's going to be funny to watch is that those tariff uh those tariff talks will go very nicely uh on uh in Europe's in Europe's behalf because Europe now with Germany involved 9:00 is going to be buying billions hundreds of billions of dollars of military expertise technology equipment weapons and ammo to gear up itself and help Ukraine and they'll be buying it from the US defense industry And so they have a stick to hold over his head and that is you know we're gonna buy a lot of stuff from you guys Just stop with this this tariff business or we'll we'll throw tariffs up on you And I suppose through the wallet really does seem to be the way to to negotiate with with Trump's administration on uh support for Europe and Ukraine I mean there was another line out of the G7 finance ministers meeting just last week uh which you know they including the US's Scott Bessant condemned Russia in quite strong words that we haven't seen from this administration and they've said most crucially I think you mentioned this in your article that they want to keep those confiscated Russian assets frozen What does that mean for the Kremlin 10:01 that's a huge blow That's a big problem I I'm not sure they were counting on them to ever come back anyway but you know it's it's a it's a it's it's embarrassing and it's it really uh represents just about all the foreign uh the foreign uh income that they made for a decade or more This was put put away in piggy banks and central banks around the world because they weren't in foreign exchange currencies and they will not get that back So essentially 10 years of trading on behalf of of uh of Russia with the rest of the world has all been for not and that's got to be annoying because I don't know he he can't replace that because his economy is is just strictly wartime and there's nothing going on there There's no foreign direct investment There's no growth Uh I think it's just uh it's it's going to fall apart eventually And I just want to finish on on this Diane your most recent Substack article uh was 11:00 called Ukraine's Plan B and and and I suppose the gist of it really is is that there is going to have to be more of a reliance on Europe for Ukraine Do you think that there is enough time now for Europe to fill in if not all of the US's support enough that Kiev can negotiate their way through to getting a resumption on on some level of US support for their fight against Russia well it's a tall order but I think they have to do it Uh I think the other thing that may happen is that the US will remain and its might and its military help will remain in place every bit as seriously as it has been in the past The only difference is that the Europeans will pay for it They will hire it It'll be once removed And that will benefit Trump because as you said to to play with your words the way to Trump's heart is through the wallet And Europe is going to become a 12:01 the biggest customer for the United States in short order because they have to bear the burden of the war Thank you for watching Frontline for Times Radio For more on the war in Ukraine you can sign up for membership at the link below or subscribe to our YouTube channel You can also listen to the latest news and analysis on Times Radio or read us on the times.com Thanks for watching

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