The US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, in a scathing attack on Russian President Putin, whom he called “crazy” over his decision to invade Ukraine and start a war.
At an event held tonight (Tuesday) at the Institute of Jewish People’s Policy in Jerusalem, Niles called the war between Russia and Ukraine a “tragedy,” Itamar Eichner reports in Wynt.
The political correspondent quoted the ambassador as saying: “At the end of the day Putin is a crazy man, and unfortunately, thousands of people can be killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled, this is the biggest refugee crisis Europe has seen in 40 years.”
“Many of us did not believe it could happen and that it was a big bluff. The Biden administration decided from the first moment that it was not a bluff and revealed intelligence at an early stage – something that had not been done before,” Nides said. “One of the reasons for that was to create a clear forecast to mobilize the international community.”
He added that “you are now witnessing the unification of Europe and the world against Putin and Russia – and this is beyond our imagination. If you told us that our European colleagues would impose such sanctions – we would not believe it. It crosses all industries and economies. I think you see the world speak for the first time “This is a message not only to Putin – but to all the people in the world who think bad things. I’m talking about Iran and also China who can see how the world unites to stop atrocities.”