Former NATO Secretary General: 'We have made Putin stronger'

Western sanctions against Russia "inadvertently" make Russian President Vladimir Putin even stronger, - that is the statement of former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"I had no idea that in fact the economic sanctions against Russia would somehow make Putin stronger, because the Russian elites would become more and more dependent on the Kremlin and Putin," Rasmussen said at the Hudson Institute, during the symposium "US Sanctions against Russia: Assessing the Impact and Costs."

“Because if we didn’t want war with Russia, what else could we do other than impose sanctions? We did that.

Although I realize that such a move could lead to negative consequences. But I think that if nothing is done, the negative consequences will be much worse," — Rasmussen concluded.

According to VNE