Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has revisited a 2014 G20 confrontation with Vladimir Putin, saying he urged the Russian leader to leave Ukraine as Canada imposed sanctions related to Russia.
NDTV reported Nov. 1 that Harper recounted the meeting in an opinion essay for The Globe and Mail. At the Brisbane summit, Harper said he told Putin “to get out of Ukraine.” The essay looked back at their dealings during Harper’s time as Canada’s leader.
Harper served as Canada’s prime minister from 2006 to 2015. In 2014, his government imposed sanctions on Russia.
Harper portrayed Putin as a strategic politician who invested heavily in preparation and could use personal restraint to shape how others perceived him. He argued that Putin paid close attention to other leaders and knew how to turn that knowledge to his advantage. Harper based the assessment on his own dealings with the Russian president.
Harper called Putin “truly evil” and accused him of knowingly harming people in Russia and elsewhere. He also described Putin as a “real-life Bond villain,” saying he was asked about the Russian leader more than any other famous person he had met.
NDTV described the relationship between the two leaders as hostile, citing diplomatic clashes and Harper’s public condemnation of Putin as a global security threat. The outlet characterized Canada’s 2014 measures as among the toughest economic sanctions imposed on Russia.
