Berliner Boersenzeitung - UK defence minister says Putin has 'gone full tonto'

EUR -
AED 4.321861
AFN 81.200765
ALL 97.616692
AMD 452.43926
ANG 2.106058
AOA 1079.140893
ARS 1449.265402
AUD 1.789699
AWG 2.121212
AZN 2.00124
BAM 1.951798
BBD 2.376427
BDT 144.383923
BGN 1.957717
BHD 0.443659
BIF 3459.841359
BMD 1.176817
BND 1.498627
BOB 8.133322
BRL 6.365518
BSD 1.176986
BTN 100.353213
BWP 15.548117
BYN 3.851801
BYR 23065.609063
BZD 2.364252
CAD 1.59757
CDF 3395.116416
CHF 0.934775
CLF 0.028452
CLP 1091.838782
CNY 8.43236
CNH 8.437176
COP 4695.498988
CRC 594.181556
CUC 1.176817
CUP 31.185645
CVE 110.473663
CZK 24.631924
DJF 209.143853
DKK 7.461118
DOP 70.432185
DZD 152.34005
EGP 58.082088
ERN 17.652252
ETB 159.399244
FJD 2.630423
FKP 0.863906
GBP 0.861295
GEL 3.200863
GGP 0.863906
GHS 12.179656
GIP 0.863906
GMD 84.144119
GNF 10186.525934
GTQ 9.049443
GYD 246.245044
HKD 9.236117
HNL 30.808946
HRK 7.534924
HTG 154.54309
HUF 398.787318
IDR 19097.382851
ILS 3.917156
IMP 0.863906
INR 100.505565
IQD 1541.629994
IRR 49573.407255
ISK 142.383193
JEP 0.863906
JMD 188.034412
JOD 0.834402
JPY 170.30184
KES 152.400959
KGS 102.91226
KHR 4731.980293
KMF 491.909358
KPW 1059.166398
KRW 1603.871873
KWD 0.359284
KYD 0.980889
KZT 611.565907
LAK 25366.285986
LBP 105442.784641
LKR 353.105912
LRD 235.952961
LSL 20.676409
LTL 3.474834
LVL 0.711845
LYD 6.330676
MAD 10.563401
MDL 19.820356
MGA 5219.182352
MKD 61.518559
MMK 2470.381248
MNT 4219.220358
MOP 9.516086
MRU 46.727589
MUR 52.803666
MVR 18.123811
MWK 2043.545394
MXN 21.949093
MYR 4.969106
MZN 75.269392
NAD 20.676656
NGN 1805.837446
NIO 43.247927
NOK 11.831439
NPR 160.564742
NZD 1.936239
OMR 0.452489
PAB 1.176986
PEN 4.184747
PGK 4.936724
PHP 66.426624
PKR 334.156977
PLN 4.2421
PYG 9383.757423
QAR 4.284319
RON 5.058313
RSD 117.150945
RUB 93.057992
RWF 1687.555275
SAR 4.413225
SBD 9.811033
SCR 16.585264
SDG 706.684128
SEK 11.264375
SGD 1.499447
SHP 0.924793
SLE 26.41966
SLL 24677.263968
SOS 672.554902
SRD 43.759929
STD 24357.731547
SVC 10.298881
SYP 15300.713136
SZL 20.676759
THB 38.168889
TJS 11.410901
TMT 4.130627
TND 3.398057
TOP 2.756221
TRY 46.863869
TTD 7.974647
TWD 34.047784
TZS 3096.839276
UAH 49.144922
UGX 4222.341557
USD 1.176817
UYU 47.153306
UZS 14833.775534
VES 128.830248
VND 30832.59987
VUV 139.981303
WST 3.061526
XAF 654.61463
XAG 0.032006
XAU 0.000354
XCD 3.180406
XDR 0.813634
XOF 654.900069
XPF 119.331742
YER 284.966467
ZAR 20.612676
ZMK 10592.766693
ZMW 28.394773
ZWL 378.934526
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

UK defence minister says Putin has 'gone full tonto'
UK defence minister says Putin has 'gone full tonto'

UK defence minister says Putin has 'gone full tonto'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has "gone full tonto" by ordering his troops into two rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine, Britain's defence secretary said Wednesday in unguarded comments to military officials.

Text size:

Ben Wallace made the candid comments suggesting Putin had lost his mind while also comparing the Russian leader to Tsar Nicholas I, who struggled for allies during the Crimean War in the mid-19th century.

"We've got a busy adversary now in Putin, who has gone full tonto," Wallace -- a former army officer -- told serving personnel in a government building in Westminster, Britain's Press Association news agency reported.

"Tsar Nicholas I made the same mistake Putin did... he had no friends, no alliances.

"The Scots Guards kicked the backside of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in Crimea -- we can always do it again," Wallace, who served in the same regiment, was overheard saying.

The minister's unvarnished assessment came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said Putin was in an "illogical and irrational frame of mind".

Asked about Wallace's reported assessment, Johnson's official spokesman told reporters: "The defence secretary is more astute to make that judgment than I."

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss meanwhile said Putin was "highly likely" to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attack Kyiv.

Britain and the US have repeatedly cited intelligence as indicating that Moscow is planning such a move.

However, Truss noted London does not yet have "the full evidence" that Russian troops have crossed into Ukrainian territory, including rebel-held areas, calling the current situation "ambiguous".

- 'Defensive weapons' -

Meanwhile in parliament, Johnson confirmed Britain would send further military supplies to Ukraine "in light of the increasingly threatening behaviour" from Russia.

"This will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons and non-lethal aid," he told MPs.

The UK last month deployed some 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Kyiv along with military trainers -- who have since left the country -- as Western nations stepped up their support for Ukraine.

London is ready to guarantee up to $500 million (£368 million) in loans to Kyiv to promote economic stability and reforms, the foreign office said ahead of Johnson's comments.

In December, it increased the amount of financial support available to Ukraine to £3.5 billion and signed a treaty on modernising its navy.

Earlier this month it also announced £100 million in extra assistance to be provided over three years to help the ex-Soviet country boost the economy and reduce dependency on energy imports.

The latest commitments come a day after Britain slapped sanctions on five Russian banks and three billionaires, in what Johnson branded "the first barrage" of measures in response to the Kremlin's actions.

However, he faced criticism from numerous lawmakers, including from within his ruling Conservatives, that the measures were woefully insufficient.

He and his ministers have insisted tougher measures are set to follow but depend on Moscow's actions.

Johnson also announced Wednesday that his culture minister had asked media regulator Ofcom to review the UK broadcasting licence of Kremlin-backed television channel RT.

In a leaked letter to Ofcom, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries urged the agency to take "timely and transparent" action against RT, which she warned seeks to spread "harmful disinformation".

An Ofcom spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter to AFP, adding: "All licensees must observe Ofcom's rules, including due accuracy and due impartiality.

"If broadcasters break those rules, we will not hesitate to step in. Given the seriousness of the Ukraine crisis, we will examine complaints about any broadcaster's news coverage of this issue as a priority."

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hit back on Telegram saying “If Britain turns its threat towards Russian media into a reality, retaliatory measures will not take long to come.

"British journalists can ask their German colleagues what this looks like," she said.

German broadcaster Deutsche Welle closed its Moscow bureau at the start of this month after Russia shut the outlet's local operations to punish Germany for banning a service of a Russian state TV network.

(L.Kaufmann--BBZ)