Christopher Steele
The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Christopher Steele is a former British intelligence officer who has transitioned into corporate intelligence. This interview reveals his diplomatic approach to navigating international relations and his focus on coalition-building in the face of authoritarian challenges.
“So I'm a firm advocate of looking at the Exporting, you would have a shock on the world market. There's no question. But it's a case of when you're faced with someone like Putin in this situation, are you aiming to punch him in the face or slap him on the stomach? And I think you're aiming to punch him in the face.”
“I think it was. And I think it's just so uncharted territory. I think we've all been through times in life when we felt disorientated. And I'm sure you did when you had your illness and so on. But in this case, we just didn't see how this was going to play out. There was no clear trajectory. To be honest, it's still playing out.”
“Yeah, I think not just the UK, certainly the UK. The UK is a very important country for Russia. There's a sort of love-hate relationship when you talk to Russians about the UK. I mean, it always amused me that Vladislav Surkov, who was, if you like, the sort of...”
“Well, my contention would be that the only, I think, financial sanctions are important, absolutely. And I think the central bank's reserves that have been frozen abroad, that's all very important. But other than that, the sanctions that really matter are on hydrocarbons, oil and gas.”
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson — The Christopher Steele One
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