Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov criticizes Putin, calls for increased pressure on the Kremlin

Former Prime Minister of Vladimir Putin from 2000 to 2004, Mikhail Kasyanov has been one of the Kremlin's most virulent critics since his dismissal. And the one who was a supporter when he was in office of Russia's rapprochement with the West, does not fail to make known all the evil he thinks of the war against Ukraine.

In an interview with AFP on Saturday, Mikhail Kasyanov believes that the Russian president “made a mistake that he cannot admit” by invading Ukraine in 2022. “He believed the reports from his security services according to which Ukraine was weak.”

A former prime minister in exile

For the 68-year-old former Prime Minister, who spoke on the sidelines of a conference organized by the French association “Russia-Libertés”, the war will not end in 2027. According to him, Vladimir Putin is comforted both by the increase in the price of oil due to the war between the United States and Iran and by the disagreements between Donald Trump and Europe on how to deal with the Kremlin.

“Putin is rubbing his hands,” says Mikhail Kasianov. “He thinks he can continue the war without making the slightest concession. And he is convinced that he is winning the war of attrition against Ukraine.” He therefore predicts a particularly harsh winter for the Ukrainians, calling on Western countries to exert “psychological pressure on the Kremlin” in close ranks and to urgently provide Patriot missile interceptors to Ukraine, which is facing an intensification of strikes against its civilian infrastructure.

Mikhail Kasianov, who left Russia in 2022, now lives in exile in Riga. In 2023, Russia designated him as a “foreign agent”. He explains that he is still in contact with members of the Russian ruling class. According to him, in Russia, “everyone wants the war to end. An overwhelming majority, in any case.” “The difference is the type of ending: some want the war to end in victory, others in Putin's defeat, and still others simply want it to end, whatever the outcome.”

Putin described as “very calculating cynic”

He also calls on Western countries, and particularly European ones, not to be afraid of Vladimir Putin's ranting or his threats to use nuclear weapons. “The biggest mistake Westerners and Europeans make is being too afraid of Putin. He is not as strong as he seems,” he said in front of a packed room at the Russia Liberties conference, adding that “Putin fears the nuclear button, much more than the Europeans.” He wants foreigners to believe that he is “a psychopath”, when he is only a “very calculating cynic”.

Our file on the War in Ukraine

According to Mikhail Kasianov, “what Putin wants is respect”. “He wants to force all of Europe to grant it to him.” “He’s a provocateur.”