The World's Big Mistake About Putin. With Dmytro Kuleba

About this episode

“Putin will drag you into war!” – Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warns Germany and Europe of a dangerous miscalculation about Russia’s president. Speaking with Paul Ronzheimer in Kyiv, he reveals why he has fundamentally changed his assessment of Vladimir Putin: He no longer believes negotiations can stop the Russian president. Instead, Europe must prepare for a dangerous new reality – and the possibility of a direct confrontation with Russia. In this remarkably candid interview, Kuleba discusses the West’s biggest mistakes, his experiences with Olaf Scholz and Joe Biden, and whether earlier weapons deliveries could have changed the course of the war. He takes us behind closed doors, recounting his extraordinary encounter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, revealing what really happened during the failed Istanbul peace talks in 2022, and challenging the claim that Boris Johnson prevented a peace agreement. Kuleba also addresses the threat of nuclear escalation, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s friendship with Putin, corruption in Ukraine, and the increasingly desperate situation in Kyiv ahead of winter. A powerful conversation about Ukraine’