Former President Obama called the Russian leader "reckless" and someone who's "always been ruthless towards his own people as well as others."
"...what we have seen with the invasion of Ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might not have anticipated eight, ten years ago, but you know, the danger was always there," Obama said in a Wednesday interview to NBC's Today show.
"I think that what we're seeing consistently is a reminder of why it's so important for us to not take our own democracy for granted, why it's so important for us to stand for and align ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence, and I think that the current administration's doing what it needs to be doing," said Obama.