‘I would take bullet for Putin’: Bernie Ecclestone says Russian president is a ‘first class person’

Bernie Eccleston has said he would ‘still take a bullet’ for warring Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who ‘believed he was doing the right thing’ by ordering his bloody invasion of Ukraine. 

In a bizarre interview on Good Morning Britain, the former Formula 1 owner, 91, branded the 69-year-old dictator a ‘first class person’ and ‘sensible.’ 

It comes after reports of Russian attacks on apartment buildings and shopping malls in Ukraine, the latter of which was branded a war crime by western leaders. 

Despite the tens of thousands of innocent civilians feared dead in the eastern European country, Ecclestone branded Putin a ‘sensible person.’ 

Speaking from a sunny rooftop in Ibiza, Ecclestone also took a shot at Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was a comedian before the war and appeared to ‘want to continue being one.’ 

The billionaire then insisted the invasion ‘could have ended differently’ if Zelensky had ‘talked with Putin’. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone (R) attend the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix competition October 11, 2015 in Sochi, Russia

When pressed by journalist Kate Garraway, who asked if he believed a change in Zelensky’s actions, rather than Putin’s, could have avoided war, Ecclestone replied: ‘Absolutely.’

He added: ‘What he’s doing is something he believed was the right thing for Russia. 

‘Unfortunately, like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time, and when you’ve made the mistake you have to do the best you can to get out of it.’

‘I think if it had been conducted properly – I mean the other person in Ukraine, his profession I understand he used to be a comedian, and I think he seems to want to continue that profession because I think if he had thought about things he would have definitely made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and probably done something about it.’  

Ben Shephard quizzed Ecclestone about the thousands of innocent lives killed in Ukraine, asking him: ‘You can’t justify that, surely?’ 

Ecclestone responded: ‘I don’t. It wasn’t intentional – look at all times America has moved into different countries which is nothing to do with America.’