The Russian invasion of Ukraine hasn’t changed Gérard Depardieu’s love for Russia. The actor emphasizes this in an interview. He thinks war is “nonsense” – but the Frenchman doesn’t want to talk about Moscow’s attacks on the neighboring country in the future.
The French acting star and Russian citizen Gérard Depardieu says he no longer wants to comment on the Ukraine war for the time being. “I don’t want to say more on the subject than: War is great nonsense,” said Depardieu in an interview with the “Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung”. Depardieu also stressed that he will retain his Russian citizenship, which he accepted in 2013 following a personal offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I prefer to avoid talking about the subject, nobody is able to say anything really sensible about it,” said the 74-year-old, referring to Russia’s war of aggression. In March 2022, Depardieu accused Putin of “crazy and unacceptable excesses” over the invasion of Ukraine.
Previously, Depardieu had repeatedly spoken positively about Putin. He described Russia as a “great democracy” and compared the Russian president to the former Pope John Paul II of himself with Putin and titled it “Friendship”.
Regarding his Russian citizenship, Depardieu told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that he would keep it. “Nothing has changed for me,” he said. “I’m still Russian. I love Russian culture. When I love a country, it’s always because of its culture.”
