Exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has claimed that Vladimir Putin is signalling that he is prepared to strike a deal on Ukraine with Donald Trump.
Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Khodorkovsky thinks any agreement could involve ceding land to Russia.
“I have the impression that Putin has sent Trump a signal that he is ready for a deal.
“Putin wants to get the whole of Donbas, those parts of it he hasn’t occupied yet,” he said, but warned that the Russian president may aim to secure territorial gains in eastern Ukraine to “destabilise the situation” in the rest of the country.
He also cautioned whether it was possible to comprehend the US and Russian leaders’ strategies, ahead of speculation about an upcoming Trump-Putin meeting in Hungary.
“I have already started getting doubts about understanding Putin and what he really wants,” adding that he “never had any idea” about Trump or trying to understand him.
Mr Khodorkovsky, the former head of oil giant Yukos who spent over a decade in a Russian prison and now lives in London, also issued a stark critique of Britain’s diplomatic capacity to respond to Kremlin manoeuvres.
He argued that the Foreign Office has lost the deep expertise on Russia it once possessed, leaving the UK ill-equipped to influence Moscow or support the Russian opposition effectively.
“What Britain is lacking today is expert knowledge about Russia, which it possessed about 30 years ago.
“It would make sense for the UK to also have a dialogue with people who have the knowledge and expertise and who are natural allies of the British government.”
He urged Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to elevate Britain’s role not only in supporting Ukraine but also in actively engaging with Russian dissidents as a strategic lever against Mr Putin.
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Mr Khodorkovsky was also asked about how long the Russian president can remain in power and any potential role for the Russian opposition.
“I think by putting psychological pressure on Putin, creating a set of problems for Putin that he has to resolve himself or be engaged in resolving himself – and the consolidation of the opposition is one of such problems – all this is actually an opportunity to put pressure on the pivotal point of this conflict. And the pivotal point is Putin himself.”
Mr Khodorkovsky told Phillips he risked life imprisonment if he returned to Russia, adding that the Kremlin had recently filed an additional charge against him, which he believed “could also mean violence used against me outside Russia”.
Despite the risks, he remains focused on ending the war in Ukraine: “Stopping this war… would be much more important than waiting another few years for Putin to leave the stage.”
For Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s full interview, watch Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme from 8.30am.
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