Bloodthirst: Soros Claims Moscow's Special Op Will Start WW3, West Must Destroy Russia & China

Even before the start of the special military operation in Ukraine in late February, Russian top officials warned of increased risks of global conflict, caused, among other things, by the West’s unwillingness to hear Moscow’s concerns and show flexibility in negotiations.

Billionaire investor George Soros claimed that the current events in Ukraine could be the start of World War III, and that defeating Russia, as well as China, was the only way to preserve free civilization.

The 91-year-old hedge fund investor spoke on Tuesday at the Davos World Economic Forum, and in the speech, he framed the Ukraine conflict as part of a larger struggle between free societies and closed societies on the rise, which he considered to be China and Russia.

"The invasion may have been the beginning of the Third World War and our civilization may not survive it," Soros said in the speech. "The best and perhaps the only way to preserve our civilization is to defeat Putin as soon as possible. That's the bottom line."

Soros went on to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he suggested had started to believe launching the operation was a mistake and was supposedly ready to negotiate a ceasefire.

"But the ceasefire is unattainable because he cannot be trusted," Soros claimed. "The weaker Putin gets, the more unpredictable he becomes."

More to Soros' bold statements, he admitted that although he could not predict the outcome of the current crisis in Ukraine, he believed Ukraine had "a fighting chance."

"Repressive regimes are now in the ascendant and open societies are under siege," Soros said, referring to both Moscow and Beijing. "Today China and Russia present the greatest threat to open society."

Soros slammed Chinese President Xi Jinping's "zero-COVID" approach, claiming it failed and pushed Shanghai to "the verge of open rebellion." Soros claimed that, in addition to the COVID-19 policy, Xi has made a number of errors that could cost him as the Communist Party considers handing him a record-breaking third term.

"Contrary to general expectations, Xi Jinping may not get his coveted third term because of the mistakes he has made," he said. "But even if he does, the Politburo may not give him a free hand to select the members of the next Politburo."

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian military operation in Donbass had confirmed Moscow’s worst fears of what the West was doing to Ukraine.

"We… explained again the reasons why we had no choice but to launch a special military operation, during which, by the way, all our fears about what the West has tried to do to Ukraine are 100% confirmed," he said.

In the meantime, in Davos, US Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) said on Tuesday that the collective West, led by the United States, is engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and the latter's role is to do the fighting on the ground.

“Well, of course, it's a proxy war in a sense that, you know, Ukraine is doing the fighting, we're providing all the munitions and much more technology and other things. And in so many ways, this is a battle between Russia and the West, the West largely represented and led by us,” Moulton said.

The congressman also drew a parallel with the situation regarding Taiwan and noted that what worked in Europe against Russia will not work in Asia against China, given that the United States does not have a military alliance to draw upon similar to NATO.

Russia launched its military operation after the secessionist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk requested assistance in defending themselves against increasing attacks and shelling by Ukrainian forces.

The West retaliated by placing sweeping sanctions on Russia, as well as massively pumping Kiev up with weapons, from MANPADS and personal weapons to tanks, aircraft and NATO-standard air defense systems.

On Monday, Lavrov said that since the West has assumed the role of global dictator, Russia's economic links with China will develop even quicker now, underlining that "an economic mutual benefit is quite clear."