Former F1 director Bernie Ecclestone has defended Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, insisting he would “grab a bullet” by the Russian leader.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, Ecclestone described Putin as “sensitive” and “a first-class person” who “believed he was doing the right thing for Russia.”
Ukrainian live news: Putin denies attack on mall as “gross money laundered in London to fund war in Russia”
“Unfortunately, it’s like a lot of entrepreneurs, certainly like me, that we get it wrong from time to time and when you get it wrong, you have to do your best to get out of it,” he said.
And he criticized Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not making enough effort to reach his Russian rival.
Mr Ecclestone said: “The other person in Ukraine, his profession, I understand, used to be a comedian and I think he seems to want to continue with that profession, because I think if he had thought of things, he would certainly have made a great success. enough effort to talk to Mr. Putin, who is a sensible person, and I would have listened to him and probably could have done something about it. “
When it was pointed out that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, Mr Ecclestone merely replied, “It was unintentional.”
And when asked if he was suggesting that President Zelenskyy should have “done more to avoid war, and that it could have been avoided with Zelenskyy’s actions, not by a change in Putin’s actions,” the tycoon of motorsport said, “Absolutely.”
“I am sure that Ukraine, if it had wanted to get out of it properly, could have done so,” he added.
Ecclestone said he had not spoken to his “friend” since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
But he said, “I’m absolutely sure now I wish I hadn’t started this whole business, but it didn’t start as a war.”