Skip to content

A Trump-appointed former senior adviser to the defense secretary says Russian forces have been ‘too gentle’ on Ukraine, calling Zelensky a ‘puppet’

    destruction war ukraine kharkiv

    A burnt-out car is seen on the street after a rocket launched by Russian invaders on Tuesday, March 1, at about 8:00 a.m. local time, near the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building in Svobody (Freedom Square) Square in Kharkiv, northeast. of Ukraine, has entered. March 1, 2022, in Kharkiv, Ukraine.Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has remained in Ukraine despite assassination attempts.

    • He called on Ukrainians to defend their country against invading Russian forces.

    • On Friday, a former Trump appointee called him a “puppet” and said Russia has been “too gentle”.

    A Trump appointee said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a “puppet” and said the Russians were too gentle in their attack on Ukraine.

    “The first five days, the Russian troops were frankly too mild-mannered. They’ve corrected that now. So I’d say this should be over for another ten days,” said retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor, who appointed former President Donald Trump as a senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense, said in an interview with Fox Business’s Stuart Varney on Friday.

    Macgregor, who also nominated Trump as ambassador to Germany in July 2020, said the war could have ended “days ago” if Zelensky had accepted what the Russians want, which he said is a “neutral Ukraine”.

    “I think Zelensky is a puppet and he is unnecessarily endangering huge numbers of his own population,” Macgregor said.

    Macgregor laughed when Varney was asked if he thought Zelensky was a hero to stand up and fight.

    “I don’t see anything heroic about the man. I think the most heroic thing he can do right now is come to terms with reality. Neutralize Ukraine,” Macgregor said. “This is not a bad thing. A neutral Ukraine would be good for us and Russia. It would create the buffer that both sides want frankly, but I think he’s being told I think I should hold on and try to get this out.” drag, which is tragic for the people who have to go through this.”

    Varney ended the interview by telling Macgregor that he disagreed with him.

    Zelensky has been hailed a hero for staying in Ukraine while Russia invades, despite warnings that he is a target for assassination attempts. Zelensky has called on Ukrainians to take up arms and defend the country against Russian forces.

    Macgregor was also shut down last week by Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin after she said the US should not help Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be able to conquer parts of the country.

    “We will not send our troops to fight, but we are urging Ukrainians to die senselessly in a battle they cannot win. We are going to create a humanitarian crisis far greater than anything you have ever seen if not happens stop,’ said Macgregor.

    Griffin said Macgregor’s comments contained many “distortions.”

    “The kind of conciliation talk that Colonel Macgregor, who should have known better — when he was in government, he was the one who advised Trump to pull all troops out of Germany,” she said. “That projection of weakness is what made Putin think he might move to a sovereign country like Ukraine.”

    Read the original article on Business Insider