Fmr. Russian FM Calls on Russian Diplomats to Resign

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Do you think that your call for resignations will actually resonate? Or are they all just too afraid?

ANDREI KOZYREV, FORMER RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Resonate, I think, definitely. Whether they will actually do something directly, like actually resign, I’m not sure. Maybe not. But it will be a — so to say, a waking up call. And I think that many people in Russia will start asking questions, like their families and especially younger children, like 20 years, around 20 years, they will ask questions. Hey, father, mother, what is going on? What are you actually representing? What are you defending, this kind of barbarity?

AMANPOUR: Mr. Kozyrev, the Russian president today said that the war is going according to plan. And he basically told the French president that if he doesn’t get what he demands from the negotiations, he’s going to get it by military domination the ground. What do you expect? I mean, you know Vladimir Putin. You know those people around him. What do you expect to — for the world to see in the next several days?

KOZYREV: Well, just — well, if I were Macron, I would not go. And I would not then, like, reproduce what he says. It’s bravado. But this bravado should be met with two things. Those two things should help him to see a reality, because he’s kind of delusional now, partly because of the long story of the Western, including French, appeasement policy. But if the West stands where it is — seems to be now, and America leading that, like, more severe sanctions now, and more weapon delivery to Ukraine now, then he’s not crazy. He’s just brazen. So, he will know when people start to kind of be indignant in Russia. And they need also a wakeup call, like a shock therapy, if you will. That’s why sanctions are important.