Former Canadian foreign minister denounces Putin as 'war criminal' for invading Ukraine

The Winnipegger who spent more than four years as Canada's top diplomatis anything but diplomatic in his description of Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

"Towatch this kind of crushing assault by Putin, frankly, I think that he has got to be charged as a war criminal," said Lloyd Axworthy, whoserved as minister of foreign affairs between 1996 and 2000 under Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Russialaunched its devastating assaultof neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday after Putin's declaration of war. An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire shookmajor cities. Reports suggest dozens of people have died so far.

Axworthyhas seenRussian meddling into Ukraine's affairs for himself while monitoring the country's 2019 election in an official capacity.

He remembers a conversation at a Kyiv coffee shop where people werediscussingthe lengths the Russians were going to, in efforts to turn people against Ukraine. It also showed him theUkrainian people's dedication in upholding their democracy, he said.

Earlier in Putin'sreign, he "started out not as a pleasant personbut at least somewhat pragmatic," Axworthy said, but"he's increasingly become delusional and into this whole kind of history of great Russia, how they were responsible for Ukraine," he told CBC Manitoba's Up to Speed host Faith Fundal in an interviewThursday.

"He's now turning a fantasy into propaganda and, as a result, we're all paying a bigprice for his actions."

Putin threatening nuclear warfare: Axworthy

Axworthy, whocurrently chairs the World Refugee and Migration Council, doesn't hesitate when askedthe meaning behind Putin's threat that any country'sintervention into their war willlead to"consequences you have never seen."

"I don't think there's any confusion, I think he's talking about nuclear weapons," Axworthy said.

It "just shows just how far off the edge of the cliff he's gone," he added, suggesting Putin is living in a "kind of video game world" and is far removed from the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union and United States stepped back from the brink of nuclear conflict.

Axworthy said Putin has never shaken his disgust that the Soviet Union was dissolved, whichthe Russian president once called one of the greatest geopolitical tragediesof the 20th century.

"After the last couple weeks, looking at Putin, I think he's a little deranged to begin with, but he came out of a culture of the KGB, which was all imbued with Soviet Union's power and strength," he said.

Putin's actionsmay classifyhim as a war criminal, as Axworthy suggested.War crimes, as defined by the Geneva Conventions of 1949,include "wilful killing" and extensive destruction"not justified bymilitary necessity."

Axworthysaid a takeover of Ukraine would put Russia within striking distance of NATO countries, such asPoland, Hungary and Romania. He notedNATO countries have an obligation to come to the defence of any members who are attacked.

Axworthy is convinced the sanctionsput in place by othercountries won't deter Russia, but he insists hope is not lost.

The former vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg urged Canada to provide the money, weapons and resources needed to bolster Ukraine's defences.

"I think there is a real hope andsome good intelligence to suggest the Ukrainians are going to not only fight back, but even if the Russians take control of the government, they're still going to be guerrilla actions, insurgency actions," Axworthy said.

He recalledthe Soviet Union pulling its troops out of Afghanistan in 1989, after an occupation lasting more than nine years.

"The Russians got kicked out of Afghanistan because people simply wouldn't accept the kind of governance they had. It's happened to other autocratic countries. And I think that's a lesson for all of us, is that if you live next door to an autocrat a big, powerful one like Russia then be wary."

Axworthy added Canada can also help by welcoming refugees, including the people who would be most threatened by a Russian takeover. In Manitoba, he said the province's minister of advanced education and immigration, Jon Reyes, wants to look at ways to support resettlements.

He's encouraging Canada to also provide financial aid toUkraine's neighbouringcountries, which are already absorbing thousands of fleeingrefugees.

Ostap Skrypnyk,who is with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress's Manitoba provincial council, doesn't believe the worldwide outrage, nor thesanctions, will bringa swift end to the war, either.

Putin has already calculated therepercussions of his offensive, Skrypnyk reasons.

"He'll stop when he hasa plan and then the rest of us will be left to pick up the pieces."

That will include addressing allhumanitarian issues, from the many people already displacedto the destroyed infrastructure, he said. Skrypnyk said it would take years to address those issues.

Anger felt by local Ukrainians, Russians

As someone of Ukrainian and Russian heritage,Taya Rtichshevasaid the invasion is a "monstrous act of aggression" that's brought sorrow toeveryone in Manitoba whose ancestry is linked tothese two countries.

"Itwill lead to consequences for the economy, politics, international relationships and most importantly, it will make a negative impact on the relationship between the Russian people and Ukrainian people in every single corner of the world,"saidRtichsheva, who founded U Multicultural, an ethnoculturaltelevision and radio platform in Manitoba.

"How can any of us feel safe today when this kind of aggression happens and the world is watching? How can we help?"