Will Vladimir Putin invades, or doesn’t invade? It is a well-known question that bewilders many international communities. And while some are more optimistic that the Russian leader will ultimately decide against all-out war in Ukraine, many experts and journalists around the world – including Nico Hines of The Daily Beast – are not certainly.
“Vladimir Putin took Crimea just seven years ago… he just went there and took it and nobody did a damn thing. I just don’t see this reason to be optimistic at all,” Hines said on Friday World this week. “I think there is a very good chance that if Putin decides to go to Ukraine tomorrow or next weekend, he will do so with very little resistance and absolutely no military investment from the United States. NATO”.
Discussing the global outbreak if Russia were to launch an invasion, Hines added: “People would pull their hair and say how terrible it is. And after six months, people will say ‘oh, what are we going to do about it?’ Europe is completely dependent on Russia for gas supplies — and that’s not going to change anytime soon.”
Watch the full episode of The World This Week on France 24.
