‘Putin Has Always Been Ruthless… The Danger Was Always There’

In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Al Roker, former President Barack Obama describes Russian President Vladimir Putin as “reckless” and a leader who “has always been ruthless against his own people, as well as others.”

In the interview, which is set to air Wednesday morning on NBC’s Today, Obama says “(Putin) has always been somebody who’s wrapped up in this twisted, distorted sense of grievance and ethnic nationalism. That part of Putin, I think has always been there. what we have seen with the invasion of Ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might not have anticipated eight, ten years ago, but you know, the danger was always there.”

Asked if Obama could have “done something differently” when Putin’s Russia invaded Crimea, the former president said “you know, the situations in each of these circumstances are different, but I think that what we’re seeing consistently is a reminder of why it’s so important for us to not take our own democracy for granted, why it’s so important for us to stand for and align ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence, and I think that the current administration’s doing what it needs to be doing.”