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Democracy Now!

Yanis Varoufakis: The West Is 'Playing with Fire' If It Pushes Regime Change in Nuclear-Armed Russia

This clip is from the March 25, 2022 broadcast.

A month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 3.6 million Ukrainians have left the country as refugees, and the war risks becoming "an Afghanistan-like quagmire," warns Greek lawmaker Yanis Varoufakis, founder of the Progressive International with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. He says the West's sweeping sanctions on Russia and bottomless military aid to Ukraine risk escalating the conflict and foreclosing chances of a peaceful resolution.

"What is exactly the aim? Is it regime change in Russia?" asks Varoufakis. "Well, whenever the United States tried regime change, it didn't turn out very well and has never been tried with a nuclear power. This is like playing with fire."

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