Streeting cites Churchill after Trump envoy calls Putin ‘humanitarian’

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a “clear line between appeasement and a peace process” after Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war described Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”. Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Thursday (22 October), the defence secretary said: “I understand when people are undertaking, you know, the path of diplomacy, that sometimes you might feel the need to be gracious to the host sitting in front of you. “But I’ve got to say there is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process, we should be in no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a cold-blooded killer.” Asked if he was saying this is appeasement by the US, he said: “I’m saying don’t feed the crocodile”. The phrase refers back to a comment Winston Churchill made on neutral nations during the early stages of the Second World War, most commonly cited as “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last”.

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Streeting invokes Churchill’s ‘crocodile’ warning after Trump envoy calls Putin ‘humanitarian’

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a “clear line between appeasement and a peace process” after Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war described Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”.

Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Thursday (22 October), the defence secretary said: “I understand when people are undertaking, you know, the path of diplomacy, that sometimes you might feel the need to be gracious to the host sitting in front of you.

“But I’ve got to say there is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process, we should be in no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a cold-blooded killer.”

Asked if he was saying this is appeasement by the US, he said: “I’m saying don’t feed the crocodile”.

The phrase refers back to a comment Winston Churchill made on neutral nations during the early stages of the Second World War, most commonly cited as “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last”.

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