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Former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev: ‘I don’t buy this talk that Putin cannot back down’

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Former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev: ‘I don’t buy this talk that Putin cannot back down’

I’m roughly 60 seconds into lunch at a classy Mediterranean restaurant with Andrei Kozyrev, Russia’s high diplomat within the Nineteen Nineties, when it turns into clear that I’ve already made an error.

Forward of the meal, Kozyrev had advised reserving a personal eating room, however I assured him such a formality wouldn’t be mandatory. But no sooner are we beginning to delve into occasions in Ukraine and Russia than it turns into clear, between the clanging of silverware towards plates and chattering of enterprise diners, that it’s almost not possible to listen to each other.

“See, I used to be proper,” Kozyrev sighs, with the resignation of a person who’s used to not having his warnings heeded.

“You already know, I used to be criticised in my time for being soft-spoken,” Kozyrev tells me in fluent English, at a register barely above a whisper. “The communists and the opposition claimed [it showed] I used to be a weak overseas minister.”

Kozyrev was simply 39, a younger, reform-minded profession officer within the Soviet overseas ministry, when Boris Yeltsin, the just lately elected head of the Russian republic’s parliament, chosen him in 1990 to be his overseas minister. With the autumn of the USSR, Kozyrev grew to become the Russian Federation’s first overseas minister, taking a front-row seat on the preliminary post-Soviet US-Russian talks, and the early debate on whether or not to permit any former Soviet republics into Nato — the implications of which at the moment are reverberating louder than ever.

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In his memoirs, and people of US state division officers who labored with him, Kozyrev comes off as well-intentioned however beleaguered, a pro-reform democrat within the coronary heart of the Yeltsin administration, stymied by nationalist political opponents determined to cease Russia’s tilt to the west, and likewise by his American companions who believed his nation’s flip to democracy was a fait accompli.

Whereas he lasted by way of Yeltsin’s 1996 re-election marketing campaign, Kozyrev’s tenure was rocky, with fixed reviews of his imminent sacking as he tried forlornly to maintain the president on a pro-western course. He served two phrases within the Russian Duma, then left politics for enterprise, the place he says he co-owned, amongst different issues, a meals distribution firm.

Twelve years in the past, he and his household resettled within the US. However he asks that I hold the town the place we’re assembly a secret, given the elevated menace to opponents of the Kremlin. He suggests we are saying that the placement is Langley. “Of their eyes, I’m CIA. Which I might love, however no one provides me a job,” he quips darkly.

In opposition to the backdrop of extrajudicial poisonings and the crackdown on Kremlin critics, to not point out the warfare in Ukraine — we’re assembly on day 19 — it feels exhausting to disclaim his request.


The restaurant Kozyrev, 70, has chosen is filled with males in crisp tieless fits and girls in flowing clothes and blow-dried hair. Although his informal slacks, blue polo shirt and sun-tanned face give the looks of a person in retirement, the luggage beneath his eyes and his creased brow betray the toll that the previous few weeks have taken on him.

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Kozyrev with out hesitation goes for the three-course enterprise lunch: a mezze platter to start out, adopted by the dorado and a Mediterranean dessert. I comply with go well with, selecting the tuna tartare, dorado and fruit plate.

I’ve spent the times earlier than assembly him holed up along with his political memoir which, within the context of latest occasions, reads like a slow-motion geopolitical automotive crash through which solely the reader can see what lies forward. I ask if all the issues right now, domestically and geopolitically, stem from the ill-fated reforms of the Nineteen Nineties. Kozyrev pinpoints the issue earlier — to the late Soviet interval. For thus most of the Soviet energy gamers “the chilly warfare by no means stopped”, he says. “That’s what most individuals within the US, within the west, don’t perceive. That’s why they’re shocked [at recent events] and I’m not.”

Born in Brussels in 1951, whereas his engineer father was on a two-year Soviet commerce posting, Kozyrev says his unintentional birthplace within the dwelling of Nato had all the time been trigger for suspicion amongst his nationalist opponents.

After working as a fixer at a manufacturing facility after college, he was accepted into the Moscow State Institute of Worldwide Relations — a coaching floor for diplomats. On the overseas ministry, he rapidly rose by way of the ranks, gaining notoriety in 1989, when he revealed an article that advocated the Soviet Union develop nearer ties with the US. Whereas at one other level it may need led to his sacking, as an alternative the then overseas minister Eduard Shevardnadze promoted him. A yr later, he was working for Yeltsin.

As our starters arrive — my tartare pleasantly salty — we talk about Kozyrev’s former boss. In his memoirs, there’s apparent affection for Yeltsin the person, with whom he shared household holidays, however little for Yeltsin the flamable politician who routinely undermined the reforms that Kozyrev and the opposite democrats have been making an attempt to implement. Of explicit frustration, Kozyrev signifies, was Yeltsin’s consuming, which different overseas leaders tried to benefit from. On one notably boozy evening in 1993, Polish president Lech Walesa bought Yeltsin to conform to help Poland’s bid to affix Nato — a objective that Kozyrev finally agreed with however feared then was untimely.

On the identical time he was annoyed in his dealings with the brand new Clinton administration in Washington, which he believed was slow-rolling support to Russia, permitting the reformers’ nationalist opponents at dwelling to achieve the higher hand. “These guys of the [George HW] Bush administration, they have been chilly warfare warriors and so they knew what the Soviet Union was about and that in two months we couldn’t flip it throughout,” he says. “The Clinton administration, they took [the reformers] without any consideration.”

Kozyrev tried to alert either side to the issue. In 1992, he delivered a chilly war-style speech to the overseas ministers of the Convention on Safety and Co-operation in Europe, through which he excoriated the west and advised Moscow would drive the previous Soviet republics to affix a brand new, Russian-dominated federation. An hour later, he returned to the ground to announce that the speech had been a stunt, supposed as a wake-up name to the west. It was additionally a wake-up name to Kozyrev’s boss. “The message to Yeltsin was that in case you hearken to the [anti-democrat] opposition, that’s the place you can be.”

For a number of years, it labored. In the end, nevertheless, Yeltsin started to close Kozyrev and different reformers out, changing the reform-minded cupboard members with hardliners, and finally choosing Vladimir Putin, then director of the Federal Safety Service, as his successor.


Our fish arrives. The dorado is fastidiously filleted, with the fish head nonetheless connected, and doused in olive oil, capers and parsley.

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As we start our mains, I ask if Russia’s invasion got here as a shock to him. “Completely,” he says, even with all of the US intelligence reviews. “It was so brazen. So unthinkable . . . That’s why folks assume [Putin’s] loopy,” Kozyrev says.

For his half, Kozyrev believes Putin nonetheless thinks he’s performing rationally. Not fairly, Kozyrev clarifies, however rationally. Authoritarian regimes “can’t be sustainable with out these sorts of formal aggression. As a result of they’re unstable inside,” Kozyrev argues. Furthermore, he thinks Putin has come to imagine that the Ukrainian folks really need to be liberated by Moscow.

“He believes in all these lies which his propaganda feeds the Russian folks.”

Enterprise lunch x2 $96

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Mezze platter, dorado, tuna tartare ($15 complement), selection of Mediterranean dessert or fruit plate

Food plan Coke $6
Jasmine inexperienced tea $5.50
Cappuccino $6.50
Whole together with tax $140.61

Kozyrev is in awe of Volodymyr Zelensky — “He’s confirmed to be an actual wartime president, roughly like Churchill” — however shares the Ukrainian president’s frustration with the EU, US and Nato, arguing that they aren’t doing sufficient to assist Ukraine.

“They proceed to deal with him in a daily bureaucratic means,” he says, suggesting that the west had been too centered on Ukraine assembly a sure set of standards, corresponding to sure anti-corruption necessities, relatively than recognising the extraordinary interval of disaster that Kyiv was in.

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“It was the identical with us,” he says, referring to the US’s insistence within the early Nineteen Nineties that Russia implement critical financial reforms concurrently the oil worth was cratering and odd Russians’ livelihoods have been in freefall. “We wanted cash. We wanted one thing like a Marshall Plan.”

Kozyrev rejects the concept that Putin can’t reverse course in Ukraine. “I don’t purchase all this discuss that he can’t again down. For [Joe] Biden, [Boris] Johnson, the western politicians, backing down means you’ll lose public opinion.” Putin doesn’t have this fear.

Kozyrev believes the present US, EU and UK sanctions are efficient, however that every one retaliatory measures on the west’s disposal ought to have been rolled out instantly and on the identical time.

“In the event you battle with [Putin], it’s a must to punch as sturdy as you possibly can within the first punch. Don’t escalate, do it all of sudden.”

Kozyrev rejects too the claims by some Russian oligarchs and their associates that they’re powerless to affect the Russian president, alluding to the bloody and ruthless privatisation wars of the Nineteen Nineties. “Now that their property are beneath strain, they’ll do not forget that,” he says darkly. “These items come again.”

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Beneath the broader financial sanctions, the Russian inhabitants will undergo however it’s a mandatory evil, he says. “Sadly to wake them up it’s a must to create a scenario” the place the empty fridge pierces the propaganda being proven on TV, he says.

We each marvel at Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russia’s state-owned Channel One TV station, who this week interrupted the primetime information broadcast by waving a placard decrying the warfare — an offence punishable by as much as 15 years in jail. Thus far she has solely confronted a Rbs30,000 advantageous. “In fact, she is a hero,” says Kozyrev.

I say that I’ve seen feedback from some Ukrainians chafing on the concept of placing Ovsyannikova on a pedestal, given her years of service to one of many regime’s chief devices of disinformation.

Kozyrev notes that proper earlier than the protest, Ovsyannikova had posted a video assertion to her social media web page, expressing deep remorse for what she had accomplished and asking for forgiveness.

“To my thoughts that clears her. All of us make errors . . . there’s room for Saul to develop into Paul. That’s human.”

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Our dorados are cleared and changed by dessert. The fruit is refreshing. Kozyrev’s whipped confection seems to be equally good.


We dig in and travel on whether or not the Russian public bears duty for the atrocities occurring in Ukraine, or in the event that they too are victims of Putin’s authoritarian regime.

“It was one of many prophets, I believe, who mentioned folks deserve the rulers they’ve,” Kozyrev says. “These guys who’re preventing now within the Russian military — the place do they arrive from? They arrive from the folks.”

However a lot of these troopers didn’t know the place they have been going, I counter.

“It’s like Nazi Germany,” says Kozyrev. “In fact, not everybody in Germany was a Nazi. However ultimately a complete nation needed to come to its senses and to face the duty roughly.”

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I’m wondering, trying again on Kozyrev’s document, if there are issues he too needs he had accomplished in a different way?

Kozyrev doesn’t hesitate. “We have been complacent with Yeltsin,” he says flatly. “Yeltsin didn’t need to battle for reforms and didn’t perceive what sort of reforms have been wanted, and different folks have been simply paralysed.”

Earlier into Yeltsin’s first time period, it was clear that the primary Russian president “was not capable of be a frontrunner — bodily”, Kozyrev says, a reference to Yeltsin’s alcoholism and subsequent coronary heart assaults through the 1996 election.

The reformers ought to have put up their very own candidate to problem him in 1996 — maybe Boris Nemtsov, a fellow reformer and good friend of Kozyrev’s who finally grew to become one of many faces of the anti-Putin opposition and was shot lifeless close to the Kremlin in 2015.

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Earlier than his dying, Kozyrev recollects, Nemtsov appreciated to level out that one of many first issues Putin did when he got here to energy was restore the Soviet nationwide anthem. For the pro-western reformers, listening to that anthem was like listening to a dying knell for all the things they’d fought for within the Nineteen Nineties.

“To me, from the second time period of Yeltsin it was already clear,” he says, sadly. “This aggression exceeds my worst nightmare. However in any other case I’m not shocked. I knew that issues have been happening this slope.”

Kozyrev received’t discuss his household again in Russia. He shut down his companies there in round 2015, he says, and hasn’t been again in 5 years. However he says that a lot of his pals who stay are leaving. “Individuals whom I do know a technique or one other, they’re going both to London or to Turkey or to Georgia. It’s a mind drain. It’s one other blow to Russia.”

Our plates have been cleared. And the invoice delivered. However we’re nonetheless speaking. Kozyrev asks the waiter for a inexperienced tea. I order a cappuccino.

I ask Kozyrev what probably the most real looking end result is for Ukraine. The nation, he believes, can be “significantly destroyed”. However nonetheless, he believes Ukraine will be capable to push Russia again from the territory it has taken over since the newest invasion. He hopes the west will present sufficient help to Ukraine when the preventing is over in order that it may develop into “a affluent nation. That’s what Putin fears. That’s his nightmare.”

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As for Russia, he believes it’s going to face financial collapse, however hopes {that a} new and higher regime emerges. I ask if the west isn’t too giddy concerning the likelihood of Putin’s political demise. Is there an opportunity the present president’s successor might be even worse?

“Like what?” he asks drily. “A dictator who jails the opposition? Who will begin a warfare in Ukraine or Moldova?”

There’s a sizeable Russian émigré inhabitants within the US, however Kozyrev tries to keep away from it. “I’m too recognisable. I don’t need folks coming to me even for an autograph or [a comment] like, ‘Oh what are you doing? Why are you not preventing for democracy in Russia?’” Or worse, calling him a traitor, he says.

As we are saying our goodbyes, Kozyrev says he has thought of getting on a airplane to go to Ukraine and be a part of their battle. Then he worries, given his age, that he’d find yourself being extra of a burden than a assist for the Ukrainian troopers.

“I’m an outdated horse. I like this race — for democracy,” he smiles. “However then I get up and I believe it’s in all probability too late.”

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Courtney Weaver, the FT’s US enterprise & politics correspondent, is a former Moscow correspondent

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Palisades and Eaton Fires May Not Be Fully Extinguished for Weeks

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Palisades and Eaton Fires May Not Be Fully Extinguished for Weeks

It may take weeks or longer for firefighters to fully extinguish the two most destructive fires that have ravaged parts of the Los Angeles area, fire officials warned.

The sheer sizes of those blazes, the Palisades and Eaton fires, have presented a significant challenge. They have charred almost 40,000 acres combined and are still only partly contained.

Difficult weather conditions have also hindered efforts. David Acuna, a battalion chief with Cal Fire, said the persistence of strong winds, and the fact that fires were burning through homes, which can generate intense heat, made containment impossible when the blazes first ignited.

Crews have been trying to establish a boundary around the fires, using trenches, natural barriers and other methods to prevent further spread. But Capt. Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said, “It’s going to be a slow, arduous process.”

The emergence of smaller fires over the last week has further complicated efforts. Of particular concern was the Auto fire in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, which grew to more than 50 acres before being contained. Officials worried about it breaking free again in windy conditions.

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These fires have required an immediate response from both air and ground crews to prevent them from growing, Mr. Acuna said, which diverts resources from the larger blazes.

Stopping the fires’ forward progress is only the first step. Firefighters must also extinguish all remaining flames inside the contained area.

Mr. Scott said this second part of the process would also take time. Among other steps, he said, firefighters need to use hand tools to scrape away brush near the burn perimeter and turn over smoldering piles to ensure nothing is hot enough to reignite.

These timelines are not unusual for large fires. In 2018, the Woolsey fire burned through nearly 100,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, destroying over 1,600 structures. The fire ignited in early November and was not contained for two weeks. And it took until early January for the fire to be fully extinguished.

The Santa Ana winds that have repeatedly raised the fire danger over the last week have so far proven lighter than anticipated on Tuesday, but forecasters warn that wind speeds could increase on Wednesday. The region remains critically dry, with little rain expected in the near future. The combination of those elements is threatening to ignite more fires across Southern California, and could further hinder firefighters’ efforts.

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Erin McCann contributed reporting.

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Top BlackRock executive Mark Wiedman to depart

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Top BlackRock executive Mark Wiedman to depart

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Top BlackRock executive Mark Wiedman is departing, in a move that disrupts the asset manager’s planning for the eventual departure of founder Larry Fink, according to four people close to the company.

Wiedman had been widely discussed as a potential successor to Fink for more than a decade and had recently been one of the $11.5tn asset manager’s most prominent public faces as the head of its client business.

BlackRock’s board described him in as a regulatory filing last year as one of three “senior leaders who we believe will play critical roles in BlackRock’s future” as it granted him a special retention package.

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However, Wiedman, who led the integration and rapid growth of BlackRock’s flagship index and exchange traded fund business, has opted not to wait around. His departure is expected to be announced very shortly, the people said. He is forfeiting $8mn in stock options, according to the proxy.

Wiedman’s departure comes after the world’s largest asset manager embarked on a $28bn acquisition spree last year to bulk up its footprint in the fast-growing and lucrative alternative assets sector. The strategic moves not only put pressure on Fink, 72, to personally oversee their success, but also brought in a clutch of high-powered and high-paid executives who need to be carefully managed.

Fink, who has led BlackRock since its 1988 founding, is very popular with investors and is among the most influential figures in finance. But analysts and some within the firm have begun expressing concerns whether the slow pace of succession planning will drive the next generation of top talent to start going elsewhere. BlackRock president Rob Kapito, 67, is also a founder of the firm.

BlackRock declined to comment.

Wiedman is leaving almost exactly a year after Salim Ramji, another executive who was also once touted as a potential leader. Ramji became chief executive of Vanguard, BlackRock’s chief rival in the US and the world’s second-largest asset manager. Several other lower-ranking executives have also left in the past few years to take leadership jobs at smaller firms, including Daniel Gamba to Northern Trust and Zach Buchwald to Russell Investments.

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After Ramji left, the group touted its strong stable of current leaders, including Wiedman and two other executives who also received special option grants: chief operating officer Robert Goldstein and chief financial officer Martin Small.

“BlackRock is proud to have a record of our firm’s alumni going on to lead multiple investment management companies and financial institutions,” it has previously said.

A senior Wall Street figure with knowledge of the situation said “Larry [Fink] and Rob [Kapito] are not going anywhere. They just made a major acquisition and you have to see that through, [but] Wiedman is at an age where if he doesn’t make a move, he ages out of being a CEO.”

A lawyer by training, Wiedman joined BlackRock in 2004 after stints at the US Treasury and McKinsey. He started BlackRock’s financial markets advisory consulting arm, which helped central banks and government agencies dig through the rubble of the 2008 financial crisis.

Wiedman negotiated the 2009 purchase and integration of Barclays Global Investors, the deal widely seen as the most important in BlackRock’s history. He then headed up the resulting iShares business from 2011 to 2019 as it developed into a juggernaut in index and ETFs.

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Keenly interested in talent development, Wiedman recruited or promoted many of BlackRock’s top executives, including Small and Rachel Lord, who heads the international business.

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World News Live Today January 15, 2025: Donald Trump says to create new department to collect revenue from foreign sources on inauguration day

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