Putin has ‘long record of lying’, world must unite against him: Garry Kasparov on Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov called out Vladimir Putin for attacking Ukraine and said the Russian president has a "long record of lying".

Condemning Russia's move to invade Ukraine, Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov called out President Vladimir Putin and said the Kremlin leader has a "long record of lying".

Speaking exclusively with India Today, Garry Kasparov said, "One of the defining traits of Putin's character is lying. He has a long record of lying and eventually churning everything back and forth to his advantage."

"It was utterly stupid not to recognise his intentions towards Ukraine as he never recognised Ukraine as an independent state. For many years, Russian propaganda has been denying Ukraine's existence," Kasparov added. Follow Russia-Ukraine war LIVE Updates

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Garry Kasparov further said that Putin had been preparing for the war in Ukraine in "plain sight", adding that the war could have been avoided had Western countries listened to what the Russian President had been saying.

"Back in 2007 at the Munich Security Conference, he [Putin] talked about spheres of influence. He wanted the world to be divided in the fashion of the past where big countries dictated to smaller countries how to behave," Kasparov said.

"Putin has been preparing for the war in Ukraine in plain sight. He bought his Pacific fleet to the Black Sea. Russian forces have now surrounded Ukraine from all sides," he added.