A United States Senator, Lindsey Graham, asked someone who was in the same circle as Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to kill Putin. He revealed that the only way for Russia's invasion of Ukraine to end was for someone to take Putin out and kill him.
In a statement on Twitter, Graham bluntly asked if the Russian president had a 'Brutus' who could defeat Putin and end the war. Brutus himself was a Roman politician who killed Julius Caesar, while in Germany there was Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?," Graham wrote on Twitter. Hundreds of foreign nationals (foreigners) from Ukraine along with sympathizers shouted slogans and displayed writings during a peaceful protest at the Ukrainian Consulate Office, Denpasar, Bali, Tuesday (1/3/2022).
Launching from the BBC, Saturday 5 March 2022, Graham's statement was criticized by the Russian Ambassador to the United States (US), Anatoly Antonov.
He described the statement as excessive and unacceptable.
"It's hard to believe that a Senator of a country who preaches its moral values, even acts as a guide for all of humanity to be able to make a call against terrorism as a way to achieve Washington's goals in the international arena," Antonov said.
Previously, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, condemned the Russian invasion and imposed a number of sanctions, both on politicians and against Russian President, Vladimir Putin. He said that the United States would defend NATO countries, but ruled out sending troops to Ukraine.
On Friday March 4, 2022, the White House Secretary, Jen Psaki, insisted that Graham's stance was not representative of the United States government, and certainly not a statement from anyone working in the United States government.
Graham's remarks on Twitter also angered Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Of course, these days not everyone manages to maintain a sober mind, I would even say a healthy mind," Peskov said, calling for national unity from Russia.
