When Madeleine Albright met with Russian President Vladimir Putin more than 20 years ago as US Secretary of State, she said she was trying to adopt herself for then-President Clinton – but also called Putin "about this". I had a vision of how things were going."
Albright, the first woman to become the US Secretary of State, has died at the age of 84, according to her family.
He served as Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 during the Clinton administration. Clinton was appointed her ambassador to the United Nations in 1993 by Clinton.
Albright spoke with NPR last June ahead of a meeting between Russian and American leaders in Geneva. The former foreign minister recalled meeting Putin for the first time in 1999 - emphasizing that his agenda was clear from the start.
"He was trying very hard to align himself with President Clinton," he said during an interview on All Things Considered.
"But my impression in the second two meetings was that he loved the background of being in the Kremlin with all his history, that he was smart, that he was prepared and he had a vision of how things were going, Albright added.
Albright said Putin has not been "easy to manage" despite meeting with four US presidents since his first acquaintance with Clinton.
“I think he is someone who is generally very capable of his abilities. And he believes that he is the only reason, in many ways, that Russia is on the world stage now and he wants to make sure That's always to include Russia in the idea," Albright told NPR.
"But Russia is alone. And it will never be clearer than this time around because President Biden has come from some notable meetings - the G7, NATO and the European Union. And we have allies, and Putin is alone," she said. .
According to a statement by the US State Department, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been going on for a month, resulting in about 5,000 civilian casualties across the country.
The Russian military has attacked places where Ukrainian civilians are present, such as schools, shopping centers, hospitals and apartment buildings.