GOOD Morning Britain host Ed Balls was shell-shocked this morning as a guest compared him to warmongering Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
War reporter John Sweeney was in the studio to plug his new book Killer in the Kremlin.
Ed Balls was stunned to be compared to Vladimir Putin on today’s GMB
Journalist John Sweeney made the joke while promoting his new book
He said his Ukrainian psychiatrist friend believes Putin isn’t mad, just morally bad, which John said was actually ‘good news’.
It means he’s not going to blow up the world with nuclear weapons. So he’s a rational actor who I think is almost unplugged from reality, and he’s surrounded by a propaganda bubble where everybody agrees with him all the time…”
Then, in a bizarre twist, he joked: “He’s a bit like Ed Balls… no that’s unfair.”
The gag was met with a look of utter surprise on Ed’s face, prompting John to insist it was just a joke and he knew Ed could handle it.
A viewer said: “Well that was awkward! Comparing Ed Balls to Putin.”
At the weekend, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff has said Russia has lost nearly a third of its army’s strength since invading Ukraine.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said detailed assessments show President Putin’s plan has spectacularly failed.
His military is now so weakened, Ukrainians are increasingly confident they will soon reclaim all their old borders.
Sir Tony said: “They are absolutely clear they plan to restore the whole of their territory in terms of Ukraine.
“They see a Russia that is struggling, a Russia we assess has lost over 30 per cent of its land combat effectiveness.
“What that actually means is 50,000 Russian soldiers that have either died or been injured, nearly 1,700 Russian tanks destroyed, nearly 4,000 Russian armoured fighting vehicles destroyed.”
Putin is an international pariah
