Russian President Vladimir Putin’s explanation for his country’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula — that it’s a humanitarian mission in response to a coup — is "delusional," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday on CNN.
"Either he doesn’t have the facts, or he’s being fed propaganda," Albright said. "There are no calls for assistance."
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Albright characterized what’s taking place as part of a long-term plan hatched by Putin to "try to recreate some form of relationship between Ukraine and Moscow."
Putin’s decision to use force "to respond to pretend provocations" is not a legal or ethical way to operate, and there is zero proof that the Russian-speaking people in the Crimean region are being harmed, Albright said.
"It makes no sense," she said. "I agree with what [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel said after she spoke to him is that he’s living in some other world."
Putin held a news conference Tuesday, which
The Washington Post characterized as a "rambling" "series of half-truths, circular reasoning, and bravado" in which he denied deploying any Russian soldiers to Ukraine and then pointed the finger at the United States for going into Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya.
The former secretary of state under President Bill Clinton did not criticize President Barack Obama’s "reset" policy with Russia, saying that "it’s a very smart policy in terms of trying to figure out how to have a very different relationship with Russia."
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