He was the first prime minister of Vladimir Putin's government. But even in his worst nightmares, Mikhail Kasyanov says he could not imagine his former political boss ordering a military invasion of Ukraine.
“The Putin I knew was different,” Kasyanov said in a rare video interview with AFP.
Mr. Kasyanov estimated that the war in Ukraine could last up to two years. Nevertheless, he said that he always firmly believes that, one day, Russia will take the “democratic path” again.
Mr Putin, a 64-year-old former prime minister who has been pushing for rapprochement between Moscow and the West, said he did not believe, like many other Russians, that war would break out. what was coming three days before the invasion, when Mr Putin convened and chaired a thoroughly choreographed meeting of the Russian National Security Council, which was televised.
“Yes, we will have a war,” he said.
“I know all these people and when I saw them, I saw that Putin was not himself. Not at the medical level. “In politics,” he added. Today he is the leader of the Party for the Freedom of the People, a small liberal faction.
“Cynical and inhuman” system
According to his former prime minister, Putin, a 69-year-old former KGB agent, set up a system based on impunity and fear after taking power in 2000.
“These are the achievements of a system. “which, with Putin's encouragement as head of state, began to function in an even more cynical and inhumane way than in the later stages of the Soviet Union,” he said.
“Deep down, this is a system reminiscent of the KGB, based on complete impunity,” he said. how he left Russia because of his opposition to the Russian army's attack on Ukraine. He declined to say what country he was in, citing security concerns. The Russian president's sheep is in prison after surviving poisoning in 2020.
“If Ukraine falls, the Baltic states will be next” on the list, the opposition warned.
Ukraine to agree to cede part of its territory in exchange for peace.
“What has Putin done to deserve this?” he wondered. “It's a very pragmatic position. “I think it's wrong and I hope the West does not go down that road.” Mikhail Kasyanov predicted that his successor would be under the command of the secret services, but he would not be able to control the system for long and it would not be possible to hold democratic elections.
Nevertheless, “I am sure that Russia will return to the path of building a democratic state,” he said, one day, estimating that it would take a decade for the country to “de-communistize” and “depopulate” the country.
“It's very difficult after this criminal war in Ukraine,” he warned. Although the Russian opposition is often described as too divided to defeat Mr Putin, the former prime minister has said he believes the war in Ukraine has changed the situation.
“After the tragedy we are witnessing, the opposition will unite. “I have no doubt about that,” he said, stressing at the same time the magnitude of the task ahead of her, in his view.
“Everything has to be rebuilt from scratch. “The cycle of economic and social reforms must begin again,” he said.
