Vladimir Kara-Murza

And we know from history how the appeasement of dictators ends. It always ends the same way.

I hope they see this initiative passed, all the more added urgency now as Vladimir Putin is conducting war crimes, and crimes against humanity at the heart of Europe.

The Western world, and the United States in particular sees Vladimir Putin exactly for who he is, not a legitimate president, not democratically elected leader, because, of course, he isn't, but as an unlawful, illegitimate usurper.

As the world's democracies rightly prioritize helping Ukraine withstand Putin's aggression, they should not overlook the other important task, helping Russian citizens gain access to objective information about the war and the Putin regime…

The only way to resolve the situation that has been led to us to a major land war in the middle of Europe is to make sure that Vladimir Putin is not in power.

This is crazy. And, you know, just as I mentioned earlier that domestic repression and external aggression usually go hand in hand in modern Russia.

This is paranoia. He is afraid. And, you know, I think he may have reasonable grounds to think that not everybody in his own entourage is, you know, has a suicide wish and is ready for nuclear war.

This is not Russia`s war. This is not a war by the Russian people on the people of Ukraine. This is a military crime, by this aggressive, unelected, unaccountable, and yes, increasingly deranged dictator in the Kremlin, by the name of…

It is dangerous. I mean, there`s a reason most democratic countries have term limits for their leaders, because it`s just not OK to stay in power for that long.

And so I think there`s a pretty big gamble that Mr. Putin is about to enter if he really does start a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

And let`s also not forget that this is a classic page out of the latest playbook to try to sort of create a foreign war to distract society`s attention away from domestic problems.

And so I think what is important to remember that`s perhaps the main lesson from the last century of Russian history is major political changes in the country can happen suddenly.