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Ex-MI6 chief: I can't see Putin backing down now
Evening Standard
|January 25, 2022
THE former head of MI6 warned today that the West should not underestimate Vladimir Putin as fears grow that the Russian President is preparing to launch an invasion of Ukraine.
Sir Alex Younger, who ran the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020, said that he “cannot see a scenario where he [Mr Putin] can back down in a way that satisfies the expectations he has created”.
His stark assessment came after Western leaders turned up the pressure on President Putin. Following crisis talks last night involving US President Joe Biden, inset below, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Poland, Russia was told it would face an “unprecedented package of sanctions” if it goes ahead with an invasion.
This story is from the January 25, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
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