Putin Wanted to Hang Georgia’s President “by the Balls”

Perhaps Jesse Jackson and Putin are distant relatives…

Putin planned to topple the president of Georgia and ‘hang him by the balls’, says Nicolas Sarkozy’s chief adviser
By Ian Sparks
13th November 2008
DailyMail.co.uk

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin threatened to oust the President of Georgia and ‘hang him by the balls’ during a top level summit with Nicolas Sarkozy, according to a top aide of the French president.

The outspoken former Russian premier is said to have issued the furious warning after Sarkozy flew to Moscow to broker a peace deal after Russia invaded their troubled neighbouring state.

Putin’s menacing tirade was overheard by Sarkozy’s chief adviser Jean-David Levitte during talks between the two leaders on August 12.

In an interview with this week’s high-brow news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur,  Mr Levitte recounted how Putin exploded after Sarkozy told him the world would not accept Russia toppling Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili and installing a puppet government.

Mr Putin then stormed: ‘I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls.’

Mr Sarkozy responded: ‘Hang him?’

Putin said: ‘Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.’

Mr Sarkozy replied: ‘Yes but do you want to end up like Bush?’

Mr Putin was was then briefly lost for words before answering: ‘Ah, you have scored a point there.’

Mr Sarkozy’s advisers said later that the heated exchange marked the moment that Mr Sarkozy persuaded Mr Putin and President Medvedev to begin withdrawing troops from Georgia, which had been trying to take controls of its semi-autonomous regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

President Saakashvili is said to have laughed nervously when he was told of the  threats during a live radio interview in Paris on Thursday where he is on a state visit to France to meet Sarkozy, who will then be chairing a European summit attended by President Medvedev in Nice on Friday.

Mr Saakashvili went on to criticise Europe, saying that the EU’s acceptance of the Russian occupation of Georgian provinces was like saying that the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 was also acceptable.

And he voiced dismay at France’s lead in trying to restore EU relations with Moscow, and Sarkozy positioning of himself as Russia’s main ally in western Europe.

He said: ‘I never imagined a few months ago that I would be saying such things but unfortunately those are the facts.

‘I don’t feel that Europe has abandoned Georgia just yet.  But if it happens, all my values, all my personal principles, all my promises to my people, will be destroyed.’

Meanwhile President Medvedev told French daily Le Figaro ahead of Friday’s summit that Moscow was ready to reverse its decision to station missiles close to the Polish border if the new American administration after Bush decided to abandon its own anti-missile system in central Europe.

Mr Medvedev added:  ‘We hope to build frank and honest relations and resolve with the new administration the problems that we have not managed to resolve with the present one.

‘The new American president enjoys great confidence. He has been elected in a very complicated time and I wish him a lot of luck in his post.’

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