Obama says he 'didn't predict Putin would wage war on Ukraine'; cites past interactions

Having termed the Russia-led invasion of Ukraine as a 'brazen attack' on the eastern European country, former United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday admitted he didn't think Vladimir Putin would invade Kyiv. Reasoning that he presumed so based on his past interactions with the Kremlin leader, Obama said, "I would not have predicted it from five years ago."

Addressing an event hosted by the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics and The Atlantic, Obama referred to Putin saying "I do not know that the person is the same as the person who is now leading this charge."

"For him (Putin) to bet the farm this way? I would not have predicted it from five years ago," he added. 

It may be noted that Obama was the serving US President while Russia first overtook a part of Ukraine and declared Crimea as a State in the year 2014.

Obama mentioned that he was 'encouraged' by stringent measures and sanctions on Moscow and Russian oligarchs by countries, quintessentially Western democracies, and that it would not be easy to get countries' reaction to the Russia-led war eight years ago. 

"Russia did so not because Ukraine posed a threat to Russia but because the people of Ukraine chose a path of sovereignty, self-determination, and democracy," Obama had said at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

"Ukraine now faces a brutal onslaught that is killing innocents and displaying untold numbers of men, women and children," former US President stated. 

Russia-Ukraine war

On the pretext of carrying out a 'special military operation', Putin began explosions and bombings across Ukraine on February 24. Dismissing all international orders and warnings, the Kremlin continued its offensives and caused fear across Kyiv over its highly-anticipated alliance with NATO.

As days passed and countries announced heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, an unperturbed Putin launched incessant military offensives in Kyiv for weeks. While the world outpoured solidarity with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President urged civilians to pick up arms and combat Russians.

The United Nations, during the second week of March, had announced that over 3.4 million residents of Ukraine had been displaced already and Europe witnessed the largest refugee influx in its history since World War II.

Also, while the UN repeatedly urged Putin to call it quits and retract forces, Putin averred that his forces' primary objective was to 'put Ukraine's military infrastructure out of operation'. 

However, thousands of civilians, including women and children, were bombarded while Putin tried to realise his motives. Subsequently, the international community has equipped Kyiv with artillery and weapons along with monetary aid.

At present though, Russian forces are said to have withdrawn from areas near the capital city of Kyiv, while Ukraine is bracing for a full-fledged conquest on the east.