By Staff, Agencies

Former US president Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to recognize Ukraine rebel-held areas as “genius” on Tuesday, appearing on a conservative talk radio show.

"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius,'" Trump said, adding that the events would not have happened under his leadership.

This comes after US President Joe Biden and US allies announced sanctions on Russia. Moscow also ordered troops to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in a “peacekeeping” capacity.

"Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine as independent," Trump said. "Oh, that's wonderful."

“I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump administration what he is doing now, no way!”

Trump, who has remained quiet on the developing crisis in Ukraine, said Biden’s response to the Ukraine crisis was “poorly handled.”

"Now it has begun, oil prices are going higher and higher, and Putin is not only getting what he always wanted, but getting, because of the oil and gas surge, richer and richer," Trump added.

Ukraine was the focal point of a Trump scandal ahead of the 2020 elections, with the former president accused of pressuring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden and threatening to withhold military aid.

This led to the first of Trump’s two impeachments.