What Obama said for the first time since Putin invaded Ukraine as ex-president evaded Crimean debacle

Former US President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show that Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting a newly reckless manner.

“Putin has always been ruthless against his own people as well as others. He has always been somebody who’s wrapped up in this twisted, distorted sense of grievance and ethnic nationalism,” Obama said.

“That part of Putin, I think, has always been there. What we’ve seen with the invasion of Ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might not have anticipated eight, 10 years ago, but the danger was always there.”

The former president declined to directly answer a question about what, in hindsight, he would have done differently while in office, including when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Instead, he said it’s important to “not take our own democracy for granted” and to “stand for and align ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence.”