Putin's invasion of Ukraine an 'act of madness,' former U.K. PM Blair says
Putin's invasion of Ukraine an 'act of madness,' former U.K. PM Blair says
Putin's invasion of Ukraine an 'act of madness,' former U.K. PM Blair says
The United Kingdom's former prime minister Tony Blair says Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine is an “act of madness.”
In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Blair said Putin doesn’t appear to be the same man he knew in the early 2000s who wanted “good relations” with the West.
“He changed over time, but in the times that I knew, if he'd become much more brutal, he was also still very calculating," the former world leader said. "And the real anxiety people have about his behavior over Ukraine is that it's such a colossal miscalculation. I mean ever to think that Ukraine or Ukrainians were going to accept being brought under the heel of a Putin dictatorship.”
Nevertheless, Blair said he thinks Putin is “still rational in the sense that he’s taking decisions and he is running this campaign” but that the war he’s caused is an “act of madness because, by the way, whatever happens … Russia is going to emerge weaker.”
Twelve weeks into Russia’s assault of Ukraine, troops are shifting their focus to close in on specific regions of Eastern Ukraine after facing defeat near the capital of Kyiv. However, Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday, which would be its biggest victory yet if confirmed by Ukraine.
Asked how this war ends and whether Putin would consider tactical nuclear weapons if backed into a corner, Blair said while it’s difficult to predict, it’s “unlikely” because of potential retaliation from the West.
“I can't tell you exactly what the response of the West would be, but it would be very significant,” he said. “Now, I think in the first couple of weeks of this conflict, we might have been able to bring [the war] to an end on a relatively straightforward basis. The problem now is Ukrainians will not agree to give up any of their territory or even push him back to where he was prior to the 24th of February.”
Blair, like other observers, argues the West’s main role is to suffocate Russia financially, while at the same time ensure Ukraine is equipped militarily.
Canada has done both, most recently announcing a ban on Russian vodka, caviar and diamond imports, the export of cigarettes and alcoholic drinks to Russia, and further sanctions on 14 oligarchs.
On emerging threats to the global world order, Blair said democracies should find solace in the fact that the actions of autocracies and dictatorships in recent years have exposed major weaknesses.
He pointed not only to the ramifications of Putin’s war but also China’s handling of the COVID-19 virus and the enduring economic impact being felt today.
Going forward, Blair said democratic nations have to work on making the system more “effective.”
“I honestly believe that best way to do that is we've got to reestablish a strong center in western politics, centre left, centre, right… It's when you get politics [battling] between left wing populism versus right wing populism, then you end up with incoherence, inconsistency, and that has been the weakness of the West over the past decade or so,” he said.
With a file from The Associated Press.
___
Get in touch
Do you have any questions about the attack on Ukraine? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
Five months ago, the first 'Freedom Convoy' trucks rolled into Ottawa. After the federal government took the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to end the protests, a series of inquiries and probes have been initiated. With the nation's capital bracing for more protests over the Canada Day weekend, CTVNews.ca takes a look at where the main commissions and studies stand.
Now that the House and Senate have adjourned for the summer, CTVNews.ca breaks down what key pieces of legislation passed in the final days of the spring session, and what key government bills will be left to deal with in the fall.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's recent encounter with protesters at an Ontario election campaign stop, where he was verbally harassed, is casting a renewed spotlight on politicians' security, with Singh telling CTV News that he's witnessing a level of anger he hasn't seen before.
The Conservative Party leadership race is well underway as contenders hold rallies, duke it out in debates, and slowly release more details of their policy platforms. Here's a snapshot of where the five candidates stand on the economy, housing, climate, defence and social issues.
The federal Liberals and New Democrats have finalized an agreement that, if maintained, would keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in power until June 2025, in exchange for progress on longstanding NDP priorities. Trudeau announced Tuesday morning that the confidence-and-supply agreement has been brokered, and is effective immediately.
'After a weeks-long survey of just about everyone I've met ... the overall judgment on Justin Trudeau is one of being a political write-off,' writes Don Martin in an opinion column for CTVNews.ca. 'He’s too woke, too precious, preachy in tone, exceedingly smug, lacking in leadership, fading in celebrity, slow to act, short-sighted in vision and generally getting more irritating with every breathlessly whispered public pronouncement,' Martin writes.
It's time for the whiners to win and the government to reopen the skies, a return to those glory times of flying when the biggest complaints were expensive parking, a middle seat and stale pretzels, commentator Don Martin writes in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
In an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says Doug Ford coasted to majority re-election victory in Ontario by sticking to the middle of the road: 'Not too progressive. Not too conservative.'
There's a lesson for Canada's political leaders in the short life and quick death of Jason Kenney as premier of Alberta, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
It's becoming a make-or-break week for two Conservative premiers as their futures pivot on a pair of defining moments, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned Thursday, acknowledging that it was 'clearly the will' of his party that he should go. He stepped down immediately as leader of his Conservative Party but plans to remain as prime minister while the leadership contest is held.
Boris Johnson was due to resign as Britain's prime minister on Thursday, bringing an end to a turbulent two and half years in office and triggering a search for a new leader.
Five men are being hailed as heroes by the Ontario Provincial Police after saving a man from a burning vehicle on a Toronto-area highway earlier this week.
Several vaccine manufacturers are racing to develop formulas that take into account the more infectious Omicron variant now driving cases, while policymakers are laying the groundwork for another large-scale vaccine blitz.
A well-known Ukrainian paramedic who was held prisoner by Russian and separatist forces for three months after being captured in the southeastern city of Mariupol has accused her guards of psychological and physical torture during her time in captivity.
Video has emerged showing a worker dangling in the air above a Toronto construction site after accidently getting entangled in a tagline attached to a crane.
The federal government has no intention of dropping the controversial ArriveCan app because it gives the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) key health information about travellers who test positive for COVID-19 through testing at airports and land borders, senior government sources tell CTV News.
A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program said in a report Thursday.
Patrick Brown is alleging political corruption played a role in his disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership race, a move that came following allegations that his campaign violated election financing rules.
First Nations art, from hand-carved masks to totem poles, draws on generations of tradition and skill and can take months to craft. But a flood of fakes and commercial knock-offs produced in Asia and eastern Europe are exploiting Indigenous culture, the artists say, and robbing them of revenue.
Five men are being hailed as heroes by the Ontario Provincial Police after saving a man from a burning vehicle on a Toronto-area highway earlier this week.
Video has emerged showing a worker dangling in the air above a Toronto construction site after accidently getting entangled in a tagline attached to a crane.
There are growing calls for action at a Saint John, N.B., recycling plant after two workplace deaths in seven months, with the most recent occurring last week.
Weeks after a terrifying machete attack in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, authorities have yet to identify the person responsible – but new surveillance video is offering a glimpse of a suspect.
The leader of Quebec's Liberal Party paused her vacation briefly on Wednesday to react to the news that two young emergency room doctors have quit their jobs in their hometown of Montreal to work in Toronto.
Boris Johnson was due to resign as Britain's prime minister on Thursday, bringing an end to a turbulent two and half years in office and triggering a search for a new leader.
A well-known Ukrainian paramedic who was held prisoner by Russian and separatist forces for three months after being captured in the southeastern city of Mariupol has accused her guards of psychological and physical torture during her time in captivity.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned Thursday, acknowledging that it was 'clearly the will' of his party that he should go. He stepped down immediately as leader of his Conservative Party but plans to remain as prime minister while the leadership contest is held.
Hong Kong announced Thursday it is shelving a COVID-19 measure that has resulted in dozens of cancelled flights in recent months and thwarted travel plans for thousands.
The trauma of the Fourth of July was already beginning to yield to life's regular rhythms Wednesday, just 48 hours after America's latest mass shooting brought tragedy and infamy to another tranquil U.S. community.
Beijing on Wednesday announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for residents to enter public venues, becoming the first city in mainland China to do so as it attempts to contain a highly infectious Omicron subvariant.
Patrick Brown is alleging political corruption played a role in his disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership race, a move that came following allegations that his campaign violated election financing rules.
Despite being disqualified by the Conservative Party of Canada from becoming its next leader, ousted candidate Patrick Brown's name will still appear on the ballot.
The federal government has no intention of dropping the controversial ArriveCan app because it gives the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) key health information about travellers who test positive for COVID-19 through testing at airports and land borders, senior government sources tell CTV News.
Several vaccine manufacturers are racing to develop formulas that take into account the more infectious Omicron variant now driving cases, while policymakers are laying the groundwork for another large-scale vaccine blitz.
A British man's overdose on vitamin D is a cautionary tale for people who are considering adding supplements to their lives, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
The Biden administration is looking to help foreign makers of baby formula stay on the U.S. market for the long term, in an effort to diversify the industry after the closure of the largest domestic plant sparked a nationwide shortage.
Hackers claim to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.
An enormous waterlily in London's Royal Botanic Gardens has been discovered to belong to an entirely new species, after 177 years in the gardens' herbarium.
A federal judge Wednesday sentenced Jerry Harris, a former star of the Netflix documentary series 'Cheer,' to 12 years in prison for coercing teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and soliciting sex from minors at cheerleading competitions.
The rides are going up, concession stands are waiting, stuffed animals are displayed at games tables and the Calgary Stampede is raring to go Friday in its first return to full capacity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prices have been easing slightly recently, but affording a mortgage is still a very difficult task for many Canadians. How much of a mortgage can you afford? Contributor Christopher Liew breaks it down in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Air Canada said on Wednesday it will not allow animals in the baggage hold until Sept. 12 due to 'longer than usual' delays at airports, as carriers and airports wrestle with complaints over lost luggage and long lines.
A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program said in a report Thursday.
Someone in British Columbia could be sitting on a lottery ticket worth a whopping $15 million – but there's only a few weeks left to claim the jackpot.
Thousands of revellers erupted in celebration Wednesday as the traditional 'chupinazo' firework was ignited to start the San Fermin bull-run festival in the Spanish city of Pamplona, ending a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner returns to a Russian court Thursday amid a growing chorus of calls for Washington to do more to secure her release nearly five months after she was arrested on drug charges.
Montreal swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey says she was drugged on the final day of the world aquatics championships and suffered a rib sprain and a concussion.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he supports the cause of environmentalist group Just Stop Oil, but not some of its methods after group members invaded the track during the British Grand Prix.
A Vancouver Island real estate agent has lost his bid to recover a deposit he made on a new Ford Mustang that he intended to offer as a prize in a year-long contest in 2020.
