YouSaid · the spoken record

Tony Radakin

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56
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2025-09-05
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2025-09-05
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  1. “General Gorazimov was really clear in the very Russian way. We have no plans to invade Ukraine. And that was nonsense. When you're going on exercise, you don't take blood with you. When you're going on exercise, you don't take mobile crematoria with you. Those were the things that Russia was doing, and you don't put 140,000 troops on the border of a country just because it's a big exercise. And I think the Russian tradition, I think there's a word Veronaya or something like that, which is a kind of white light. I ask the question, I know that you're going to lie back to me. We have this conversation. We both know that there's a lie at the heart of this conversation. That was what it felt like.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “He was the Defence Secretary at the time. So we went there for Ben Wallace to have a meeting with his opposite number, the Russian Defense Minister Shoygu, and I met with General Garazimov. We've always said we won't go into the details of those conversations, but we were really clear in saying to Russia that we knew that they had plans to invade Ukraine, and we were also clear in telling them that it would be a disaster, and it would be a huge mistake for them as a nation, and it would be a tragic war for Russia and its people. And that's the way that it's turned out.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “Absolutely. So I accompanied Ben Wallace to Moscow. I think it was about ten days before the invasion. We've got superb intelligence agencies. We were really clear that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “They definitely are, and we should call that out, and we should recognize that these are shifts that are happening that mean that we have to get stronger. I don't deny that. But we should also be sober in terms of what's happening. Russia is drawing on North Korea because Russia is desperate for that help. Russia needs Iran's help. Russia needs China's help. That's what's going on. And this isn't some kind of Ideological coming together or the trust that we have with our partners these are the China relationship with Russia is much more of Russia being a vassal state to China China's going to be buying more of Russian gas because Russia can't sell it to Europe and China is going to get a hell of a deal by its power over Russia. That's what's happening and we need to hedge against it but we don't need to be succored by it.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “These are not countries that have a history together, that have a mutual trust, that actually will support each other when it comes to warfighting. And you've seen that. You've seen that nobody came to Iran's aid when it was attacked by Israel and America. You know, nobody, these countries don't go rushing to help each other out. And we should recognize what's going on. We should be really confident about who we are and who our partnership and allies are. And we need to reflect that we need to be stronger in the future, but we shouldn't be cowed or scared by it.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “I think maybe there's two or three things. So one, you're right, it reflect of an era that we're stepping into, one where geoeconomic competition has come to an end and it's much more geopolitical, it's about state on state and the risk of state on state competition and the risk that that becomes violent. That's true. The other one is maybe a scepticism. It's a military parade. It's very impressive at one level, but for nations to come together and to be prepared to fight together and to support each other, it's much more substantial than a big parade.”

    2025-09-05 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · China, Russia and us: Tony Radakin on four years as Chief of the Defence Staff · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source