Vladimir Putin may be ready to risk another world war, Nikita Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter has warned after the Russian leader last night joked about the prospect of nuclear Armageddon.
Nina Khrushcheva, who is a professor of international relations at New York’s The New School, said the dictator’s ‘grandiose rhetoric’ about a ‘new world order’ suggests he is contemplating a global confrontation.
Ms Khrushcheva, who is currently in Russia, also warned that the public are stockpiling radiation pills and ‘preparing for something disastrous’ because nobody knowns what Putin might do next.
Last night in Moscow the Kremlin leader was asked to reassure an audience at think-tank the Valdai Discussion Club that the world is not on the verge of nuclear annihilation – and chose to respond with a long pause.
When host Fyodor Lukyanov pointed out that his silence was ‘alarming’, a smirking Putin responded: ‘I did that on purpose so you would be on your guard. The effect has been achieved.’
