Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among those who have long voiced concerns about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This week, Clinton said that those within Putin’s inner circle should take action, citing the erratic behavior Putin has shown in the past days.
Speaking with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC Monday, Clinton raised concerns about the Russian leader’s behavior as of late, which has become more evident when the invasion of Ukraine began. The former diplomat went on to say that the members of Putin’s inner circle must be the ones to take action if they believe that the Russian dictator may resort to doing something drastic.
“Ultimately, the people closest to Putin, those who have to deal with him, those who he is keeping at the end of the 40-foot tables while he issues bizarre orders, they are the ones that need to act,” said Clinton.
“They need to act for the good of Russia. They need to stop him! Whether or not this has turned into some kind of physical or mental problems that he either had or has in some way come down with, we don’t know,” Clinton continued.
“But his behavior is dangerous and it’s dangerous for the future of Russia. So my hope is that for the people that are watching him, those to get close enough to see in person his behavior, which is so erratic, that they can try to prevent him from doing things that will not only be tragic for Ukraine but tragic for Russia too. This should be stopped for Russia’s sake.”
The US and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions and bans on Russia as a result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Clinton also had her criticism towards the Biden administration for not completely cutting Russia off from the global markets as she noted that the cryptocurrency market remains open to use.
Clinton’s criticism follows reports that despite the Ruble dropping in value, cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum were reported to go up 14 and 11 percent, respectively. Clinton said the cryptocurrency market should be equally cut off from Russia.