Bill Ackman: "The Third World War Has Already Begun Due to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital and a representative American billionaire hedge fund investor on Wall Street, said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine "seems like the start of World War III," and evaluated that Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions have grown due to a series of past invasions.

According to CNBC on the 7th (local time), Ackman posted on his Twitter on the 5th, "It seems World War III has already started, but we were late to recognize it." He said, "In January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic fully began, I had a nightmare about the possibility of a pandemic, but everyone seemed to think I was crazy," adding, "I am having a similar nightmare now." He had previously appeared on CNBC in early 2020, advising the U.S. government to impose a nationwide lockdown for 30 days, saying "hell is coming."

Ackman continued, "There is much we can do before entering a full-scale war with Russia," emphasizing, "The U.S. can prevent the absurdity of funding the war by buying Russian crude oil, and Europe can follow suit as gas demand decreases in the spring." This aligns with the international boycott of Russian crude oil demanded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ackman pointed out, "Putin's ambitions have grown due to a series of past Russian invasions." He believes that Western countries' lack of active response to Russia's 2008 attack on Georgia and the 2014 annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea Peninsula led to Putin's current invasion of Ukraine. He said, "We are in the early stages of President Putin's global ambitions. He is testing us, and we have failed every time."

Ackman sees China as the only country that can end this crisis. He added, "The only way out of this war is for China to intervene and mediate a genuine ceasefire and agreement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.