Former Formula One Boss Ecclestone Backs Putin Over Conflict With Ukraine

Retire top-flight racing boss Bernie Ecclestone said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could "absolutely" have done more to avoid conflict with Moscow if he had only listened to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's concerns.

Former Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone has said he would "still take a bullet" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Thursday, the retired motorsport chief executive insisted his friend Putin was "a first class person" who "believed he was doing the right thing for Russia" by ordering Russia's special military operation in the Ukraine.

"Unfortunately he's like a lot of business people, certainly like me, that we make mistakes from time to time and when you make the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it," Ecclestone said.

'I'd still take a bullet for him.'

Bernie Ecclestone says Ukrainian President Zelensky should have listened to Putin to avoid war because Putin 'is a sensible person'. pic.twitter.com/jZ1hLnrYTU

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 30, 2022

In response to the claim by one of the show's presenters that Putin was responsible for "thousands" of civilian deaths in the demilitarisation and de-nazification operation, Ecclestone replied: "It wasn't intentional".

"The other person in Ukraine, his profession I understand, used to be a comedian — and I think it seems that he wants to continue that profession," he said of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. "I think if he'd thought about things, he would definitely have made a big enough effort to speak to Putin, who is a sensible person, and would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it."

Asked if he meant the Kiev regime could have done more to avert the conflict — "and that it could have been avoided by Zelensky's actions, not by a change in Putin's actions", the racing chief said: "Absolutely."

"I'm quite sure Ukraine, if they'd wanted to get out of it properly, could have done," Ecclestone stressed.

"I'm absolutely sure he now wishes he hadn't started this whole business," he said of Putin, who he said he had not spoken to since before the operation began, "but it didn't start as a war."

Ecclestone also condemned the bans on Russian athletes from international competitions. Pointing out that he no longer had any say in the premier motorsport body's decisions, he said: "I think it's wrong, to stop Russian athletes, including obviously drivers, in taking part in their sport. They didn't get involved in this in the first place. They shouldn't be punished."

Bernie Ecclestone thinks 'it's wrong to stop Russian athletes, including drivers, taking part in their sport'.

The former Formula One CEO says 'if Ukraine had wanted to get out of [the war] properly, they could have done.' pic.twitter.com/mWZTrbg5pT

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 30, 2022

Interviewed later on the same program, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called Ecclestone's comments "absolutely extraordinary" — before repeating debunked Ukrainian propaganda claims about "systematic rape" and "targeting of civilians in shopping centres".

'I think those comments are extraordinary.'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reacts to Bernie Ecclestone telling GMB that President Zelensky could have worked harder to avoid the war. pic.twitter.com/wc53307vDk

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 30, 2022

The Formula One Group issued a statement distancing itself from its former chef executive's views.

"The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport," a spokesman said.