Hans Blix believes that Putin is very rational

– He knows what he is doing, says the former top diplomat in an interview with the AFP news agency.

The interview was conducted in the 96-year-old’s apartment in Stockholm and deals with a number of foreign policy issues.

Blix was particularly high-profile when he was a nuclear weapons inspector in Iraq before the Iraq War. He sharply criticized the US-led invasion in 2003, which the Americans justified on the grounds that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The claim turned out not to be true.

Before this, from 1981-1997, he headed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

– Putin knows he made a mistake

– It was a terrible mistake that the US made, based on incorrect information and an overconfidence that US intelligence was more aware of than we were, he says and states that the Iraq war was a big mistake.

He believes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is as well.

– Putin knows he made a mistake, and I’m sure he regrets it, says Blix.

The nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya is Ukraine’s and Europe’s largest. It is currently occupied by Russia, and there is great concern that the war will lead to a nuclear disaster. Recently, the IAEA warned about the safety of the power plant after a drone attack nearby.

At the same time, Putin accuses Ukraine of having attempted to attack a Russian nuclear power plant in Kursk.

– No fooling around

Blix believes that Putin would never have attacked a nuclear power plant on purpose.

– It would surprise me greatly if Russia has not told its forces that they must refrain from things that could cause great damage, he says.

As for Putin’s indirect threats to use nuclear weapons, he believes they are empty words.

– He rattles them and threatens, but he is no fool, says Blix.