West should have armed Ukraine in 2014 to avoid war, says exiled oligarch

The West should have acted years ago in arming Ukraine with weapons and imposing severe sanctions on Russia – a move that would have “100 per cent” deterred Vladimir Putin from launching his invasion earlier this year, said Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled oligarch-turned-dissident.

- SAMUEL LOVETT

Mr Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia before his persecution and imprisonment by the Kremlin, said Western governments bear “significant responsibility” for the conflict in Ukraine, having failed to take action against President Putin after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The former oil and gas tycoon, who at one point had a personal fortune estimated to be worth £12.38bn, compared the West’s inaction to being slapped by a gangster and handing over money. “When a gangster comes to you, not just a London hooligan, but a proper gangster, and he slaps you in the face, all you can do is to give him your wallet in the hope that he’s not going to get your trousers off,” Mr Khodorkovsky told The Independent.

“Of course, there is some significant responsibility. The annexation of Crimea in 2014. People decided that they can continue business as usual. Putin took it as a weakness. And we have what we have.”