Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone would 'take a bullet' for Putin

British businessman says Russian President is a 'sensible person' and blames Ukraine for war

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bernie Ecclestone at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi in 2018. Getty

Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has said he would “take a bullet” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and described him as “a first-class person”.

The British businessman, 91, described Mr Putin as "a sensible person" and said the war in Ukraine could have been avoided by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has described the remarks as extraordinary.

Mr Ecclestone, who met the Russian leader several times during his time as F1 chief, told ITV's Good Morning Britain programme that the destruction in Ukraine "wasn't intentional".

Asked whether he regards Mr Putin as a friend, Mr Ecclestone said: “I’d still take a bullet for him. I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but if it does I’d still take a bullet, because he’s a first-class person.

“What he’s doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia. Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time.

"When you’ve made the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it."

Ms Truss told the programme that the comments were "absolutely extraordinary".

"I find the apologists for Putin – when people can see on their TV screens the appalling things that are happening on the ground in Ukraine, the appalling suffering of the Ukrainian people – I find that absolutely shocking," she said.

Ukrainian servicemen in a shelter at the frontline near Kharkiv. AP

A Ukrainian and his puppy in the Donetsk region. AP

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, third left, is shown apartment buildings damaged by Russian shelling during his visit to Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Rescue specialists work at the site of a destroyed residential building after blasts in Belgorod, Russia. Reuters

A woman lays flowers during a demonstration against the invasion of Ukraine in front of the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. EPA

A woman injured when her house was damaged by the Russian shelling sits in the yard of her house, in Bakhmut, Ukraine. AP

Local residents stand next to a damaged residential building in the town of Serhiivka, about 50 kilometres south-west of Odesa, Ukraine. AP

Viktor Shevchenko stands in a crater to show its depth after a Russian shelling in the Saltivka district in Kharkiv. AP

An image taken from a video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office purports to show the moment a missile struck the shopping mall in Kremenchuk. AP

People watch as smoke rises after a Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping mall, in Kremenchuk. AP

Firefighters clean the rubble of the destroyed Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk. EPA

A woman cries after the body of her husband, who was killed in the yard of an apartment building during shelling, was loaded into an ambulance in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Firefighters and rescue workers at the destroyed Amstor shopping mall. EPA

Rescuers work at the site of a shopping mall hit by a Russian missile strike, in Kremenchuk. Reuters

A couple wounded by a Russian missile strike hold hands in a hospital, in Kremenchuk. Reuters

People wait to receive humanitarian aid in front of a residential building damaged during a Russian attack in Borodyanka, Ukraine. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen take a bus to their positions near Severodonetsk, in Luhansk area. EPA

A Ukrainian service member and a dog in the industrial area of the city of Severodonetsk. Reuters

A couple sits in front of a residential building that was damaged during a Russian attack, in Borodyanka. EPA

Local residents receive humanitarian aid in Borodyanka. EPA

A Ukrainian armed forces tank in Severodonetsk. Reuters

Ukrainian service members walk past a damaged car in Severodonetsk. Reuters

A giant Ukrainian flag is held up during the benefit concert 'Embrace Ukraine' on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. The free event will raise money for victims of the war in Ukraine and the purchase of mobile X-ray equipment that the country needs. EPA

A fire from a gas processing plant continues to burn behind a field of wheat after it was hit by shelling a few days earlier in Andriivka, in the Kharkiv region. Reuters

An onlooker takes in the damage from overnight shelling on Kharkiv's Housing and Communal College. Reuters

A destroyed tank in the village of Novoselivka, outside Chernigiv. AFP

A man decorates a toy cabin for children made from used ammunition crates in the village of Novoselivka, outside Chernigiv. AFP

An internal view of the Housing and Communal College building damaged by recent shelling in Kharkiv. EPA

When asked about Mr Zelenskyy, a former comedian, Mr Ecclestone said: "He seems as if he wants to continue that profession, because I think if he’d have 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 could have probably done something about it.”

Presenter Kate Garraway asked Mr Ecclestone to clarify his comments on the Ukrainian president. “So just to understand you clearly, you think that President Zelenskyy should have done more to avert this war and it could have been avoided by Zelenskyy’s actions, not by a change in Putin’s actions?”

Mr Ecclestone replied: “Absolutely.”

Asked whether he could justify the actions of Mr Putin and the deaths of thousands of people in the conflict, he said: “I don’t. It wasn’t intentional."

And asked whether he had spoken to Mr Putin about the invasion, he said: “No. He’s probably thought about that himself. He probably doesn’t need reminding.

“I’m absolutely sure he now wishes he hadn’t started this whole business, but it didn’t start as a war.”

Mr Ecclestone was also asked what he thought about the Russian Grand Prix being removed from the F1 calendar and the ban on Russian drivers.

“I’m not sure I would have stopped that, and I certainly now wouldn’t, and I think it’s wrong, to stop Russian athletes, including obviously drivers, in taking part in their sport," he said.

“They didn’t get involved in this in the first place. They shouldn’t be punished.”