Assume ‘he’s not telling you the truth’: Former EU diplomat on negotiating with Putin

Christiane Amanpour speaks with Catherine Ashton, former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, about Vladimir Putin, negotiations, and her new book "And Then What?". #CNN #News

58 comments

  1. “Control over Ukraine is the most important article of faith for all Russians…hatred of Ukraine’s European choice, and the desire to turn it into a failed state, have become a lasting obsession not only for Putin but also for all politicians of his generation…In their opinion, Russia combined with a subordinate Ukraine amounts to a ‘reborn U.S.S.R. and empire.’ Without Ukraine, in this view, Russia is just a country with no chance of world domination.” – Alexy Navalny

    This is a fundamental truth about the Kremlin’s goals that too many Western leaders fail to understand and the reason why Russia must be completely defeated on the battlefield. Anything short of the total expulsion of Russia from every part of Ukraine – including Ukrainian Crimea – is the only thing that will prevent future Russian wars of aggression.

    1. Remember why Ukraine is a separate country. It earned its sovereignty after generations of Pogroms driving Russia’s jewish population into that particular region.

  2. Very smart…very competent…woman. She is clear-headed and deeply understanding of events and context. Glad to have her on “our” side. Impressive!

    1. @Devo What are you talking about? I am talking about the agreement between Russia and Ukraine in 1991-the Budapest Memorandum. The Soviet Union was in collapse and Ukraine was gaining its independence. Ukraine agreed to surrender its nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for Russia recognizing and respecting Ukraine’s sovereign border and agreeing not to “meddle” in the internal politics of Ukraine. Russia took possession of Ukraine’s nuclear weapons and then proceeded to constantly interfere in Ukraine’s internal politics. Putin and Russia went so far as to invade Ukraine’s sovereign territory in 2014 annexing Crimea. There was a second wave of aggression by the invasion in February of 2022. She clearly understands how we got to where we are. There is no mistake about it. Putin could not and would not stand idly by and allow Ukraine to turn westward….to align itself with Europe and the European Union…and ultimately, become a NATO member. How much more could he do to discredit the Budapest Memorandum agreement??? She said it, and she has it right. This war is about Putin’s imperialism and dream of making Russia the world power that the Soviet Union use to be.

    2. @James Wadsworth You’re wrong,the agreement was about ukraine surrender the soviet nuclear weapons in 1991 with a promise from respect sovereign while not have close ties to the west influence and politians to avoid a threat and russia with ukraine as it’s now.

    3. @A F yes, I think every country knew there is no way that Russia so stupid to give up on its interest. At the same time they knew that Russia is not given the right to secure its interest as west does. Then naturally a war was better than allowing Russia securing its interest

  3. I don’t understand how the whole world didn’t come to this conclusion the 2nd time he said he was not going to invade the Ukraine ..when he had military amassed and growing near the border last year.

    1. We knew the bioweapons labs Putin wanted shut down existed, so we knew we he said he was going to attack Ukraine if they weren’t shut down, that he was going to attack Ukraine. He never lied about that, it was our governments that lied to us.

  4. To Putin, communication is simply a tool to advance his interests. This is what Dugin refers to as “Russian Truth”.

  5. A fascinating interview. To her credit Amanpour, unlike in other interviews I’ve watched, didn’t ramble on and on before she got the point. She let Ashton speak at length without interruption. This was journalism, not infotainment.

    1. She’s one of the best foreign policy / international relations journalists CNN has ever had. Way better than Wolf Blitzed or Anderson Cooper ever was.

    2. yes she does like asking questions that have several questions in them, along with a little speech of her own position to the point of confusion

  6. That’s the same advice my father gave me when it comes to politicians. Always assume they’re lying until proven wrong. Don’t be a fool make them show you their words are meaningless.

    1. Why don’t they talk about how United States committed terrorism by blowing up the pipeline?

  7. Diplomats too often act as if they have all the time of eternity to talk and negotiate, meanwhile people are being persecuted, assaulted and killed.

    1. every democracy from france to usa started with lots of blood and jailtime. 2 or more systems clashed and they weeded out the tyrant fanatics and other groups. ukraine is no different. to have a democracy they need to get rid of the pro russians who are willing to push people out of windows behind the curtains and do other shady things so that they can get putins puppet in the charge. and yea many western leaders are “bidens puppets” which is not the same thing at all when you look at the citizens and civilization. the other comes with a carrot while the other wields a tree branch.
      its dirty but you cant really argue with the end result. its like a violent criminal attacking a calm person on the street. sometimes the calm person ends up killing the criminal but he most likely wont be doing that again so ultimately the world is better off that way.

    2. @a5cent which country is a successful democracy? EU? 😆😁 who elected the EU leaders? USA? You say USA a democracy while your media is blatantly lying to you? Where is the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq? Why did the USA attack Syria? Why the US military is still in Syria? For oil? Yoi are not invited by the Syrian government, so hou are there illegally. For what? Stealing oil. The US military controls part of Syrian territory, the part that has oil.

      And you talk about democracy? Why dont you preach your democracy to Saudi Arabia? The killing of the arab journalist by Prince MBS? NATO has committed war crimes multiple times ., is it your democracy? How many millions of people have been killed in Vietnam, Afghanostan, Syria, Libya, Serbia by your democracy? Are you a democracy or a war machine?

    3. @a5cent why would you care about Putin’s missconduct? Putin didnot care about your leaders’ missconduct in Afghanistan, syria, Iraq, Serbia. Why did you invade this country? And which country is next? It’s China, is it? Your leaders have turned you and your country into a warmanic country.

    1. @fernandes ac She didn’t say it was a trick. She said it was the best to assure peace at the time and gave Ukraine time they needed. That’s not a trick

    2. @fernandes ac some gimp in high heels comes along holds a gun to your head and says let’s ignore the deal we signed in Budapest

    3. @Jdubb no, u negotiate and compromise to prevent sombody break into your home and occupy 20% of ur home. Otherwise u are subjected to sanction, goverment overthrown or invasion according to Western standards. U saw how Ukraine president at the time choosed to don’t enter EU agreement at the expense of devestating its country. Then it was overthrown with west help in direction of securing west instrest.

    4. @fernandes ac there would have been no need for Minsk 1 or 2 had Russia not broken the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Russia promised to respect Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty and then it invaded in 2014. DPR and LPR were invented by Russia to exacerbate the conflict not to improve conditions for anyone. Russia has laid waste to cities in DPR and LPR, they don’t care about the ‘Russian speaking population’ it is nothing but political posturing.

  8. Being a Diplomat must be weird at times. To a diplomat, trying to avoid a shooting conflict is the ultimate goal at all times, but what happens to a diplomat when he/she has to face that fact that diplomacy has failed and armed conflict is inevitable?
    A smart diplomat will warn his/her government that diplomacy is failing and contingency plans must be made – i.e. prepare for open warfare!
    I especially liked the frank assessment that Putin is a liar! The inference is that he cannot be trusted under any circumstances.

    1. All nations should always be prepared for war when going into negotiations if talks break down by the time you get ready for (war) it is usually too late.

    2. So then a smart diplomat sit in negotioan for 8 years and then lie and destroy all trust and afterward claims to be a victim of unprovoked aggression? 🤔 Good to know 😅

  9. How do you negotiate with someone like that? Everything is wobbly and subject to interpretation. You never can trust a thing

  10. Very good and talks about the involvement of the G7. The point is not the laptop but rather the corruption of a prosecutor

    1. @Pat The baker : A calculated liar. He’s been trained and has honed his skill at lying most of his life.

    2. @Pat The baker SenileJoe Biden biggest liar around next to Boris Johnson.All western goverments lie,remember Minsk agreements!

  11. We as the EU must finally show solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers. Our friend was attacked and now we have to stand together and make a mark. We need EU conscription to be quickly operational and to help liberate Ukraine from the aggressors. For freedom, for our democratic values, we must be willing to make sacrifices.🇩🇪💞🇺🇦✊🏽

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