‘The Man Is A Fool’: Brit Hume Explains Putin’s ‘Utter Failure’ And Why ‘He Will Pay For It’

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume did not mince words Monday, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “a fool” and saying the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine was an “utter failure” that will ultimately leave him paying a steep price.

President Donald Trump has consistently pushed for peace between Ukraine and Russia, and said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could end the war by dropping his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ambitions and surrendering Ukraine’s claim to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. During an appearance on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” the host, Baier, asked about Trump’s optimism that even Putin could be brought to the table in peace negotiations. Hume said that, despite the difficulty ahead, the day’s events were a testament to Putin’s “utter failure.”

“I think most of what we saw today, Bret, with all the difficulty that may lie ahead, was testament to the utter failure of Vladimir Putin,” Hume told Baier.

Hume said Putin’s invasion backfired, leaving him to face a stronger Western alliance, a larger NATO, and a war that drags on more than two years later without securing even full control of eastern Ukraine despite enormous costs to Russia.

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“He confronts now a U.S. and Europe more united. He confronts an enlarged NATO. He tried to take over Ukraine in a week, and we’re two and a half years down the road, and he hasn’t even conquered all of the eastern section of it, despite his staggering expenditure and great cost to his country,” Hume said.

Putin’s invasion, Hume added, was a grave mistake.

“The man is a fool. He may be evil and cunning in some ways, but he made a very foolish mistake here, and, in the end, I think he will pay for it. But it may take a while. There may be considerable suffering yet,” Hume said. (RELATED: Trump Reveals What Advice He’ll Give Zelenskyy)

In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of unlawfully deporting and transferring children from Ukrainian territories under Russian control into Russia. Prosecutors date the alleged crimes to at least Feb. 24, 2022, the day Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

Putin reportedly said he would halt the fighting if Kyiv surrendered extensive areas in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives from both nations.

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