Talk of failing health or an assassination of Russia's Vladimir Putin amid his war with Ukraine is merely "wishful thinking," according to the U.K. Chief of the Defense Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.
"I think some of these comments that he's not well, or that actually, surely somebody is going to assassinate him or take him out, I think they're wishful thinking," Radakin told BBC on Sunday. "For us as military professionals, we see a relatively stable regime in Russia.
"We see that President Putin has been able to quash any opposition. And then we see a hierarchy that is invested in President Putin."
There just is no one close enough with the ability to carry out a change in leadership, Radakin added.
"Nobody at the top has got the motivation to challenge President Putin, and that is bleak," he continued.
"That's why the challenge of Russia is going to endure well beyond 2022, 2023, and 2024. This is going to go on for a long time."
There is not end of Putin's reign on the horizon.
"So potentially decades in terms of Russia as a threat," Radakin concluded. "We were clear about that in our big review last year. I think it's now being amplified by Russia's invasion into Ukraine.
"And then you're seeing the response. You're seeing the response by the international community – whether that's the G-7. You're seeing the military response with the NATO summit."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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