Robert Baer believes situation is “likely to get much worse” under Putin (Image: EPA; Getty)
A former CIA case officer has warned that Russia’s actions will get “much worse” due to the “bewildered” leader of the county.
Robert Baer has detailed his concerns about Vladimir Putin in his new book, The Fourth Man.
It focuses on a KGB agent who climbed the ranks of the U.S. intelligence agency in the 1990s.
Baer has said Russia’s “war on fascism” has been partly fueled by Washington’s “underestimation” of Putin’s capabilities.
The 69-year-old former agent told Express.co.uk: “What we have today is worse than anything during the Cold War.
“There is no doubt that the West had to support Ukraine, but at the same time we are on the verge of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
“Everyone knew about Putin’s alleged finding of God and his embrace of what can be described as Russian fascism, but on the other hand, no one predicted that his delusions would result in a land war and unbridled genocide. .
“If Putin is really as baffled as he looks, things are likely to get a lot worse.”
The situation “is worse than anything during the Cold War,” he said. Baer (Image: Contract number) Former agent has warned of the abilities of the “bewildered” Vladimir Putin (Image: Reuters)
Earlier this week, Russian television propagandist Vladimir Solovyov warned that “a nuclear war is approaching” in which only “mutants” survive.
He added: “Because if NATO decides that they can place whatever they want on our borders, they will send more and more American weapons to Ukraine, Ukraine will fire and end up hitting one of our nuclear power plants, and here we are.”
When asked about the possibility of a nuclear war, Mr. Baer admitted it was “anyone’s guess.”
His comments come amid global claims that Putin is fighting blood, thyroid or abdominal cancer.
The Kremlin has launched drills in the Baltic Sea as tensions rise (Image: East2west News) Putin could be seriously ill and “weaken” some have suggested (Image: Getty Images)
Rumors have long surrounded the Kremlin leader’s state of health and his impact on the Ukrainian war.
But Mr Baer, when questioned by Express.co.uk, declined to give his own verdict.
He added: “I will only comment that while I was at the CIA I heard our doctors predict the deaths of several tyrants, but in the end, when they finally died, the moment came as a surprise.”
More: Russia
The Kremlin has repeatedly said its health is strong, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently denied that Putin was ill.
More recently, British intelligence chiefs claimed that Putin was using bodyguards to hide his ill health.
MI6 officials apparently claimed that the Russian president may not even have attended recent events in person, including the Moscow Victory Day parade.
Many of his interviews and television addresses could also have been pre-recorded, an intelligence source told the Daily Star.
Contact our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check out our news page.