Vladimir Putin Is A ‘Bigger Threat To The U.S. Than ISIS,’ Claims Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, just announced that in his opinion Vladimir Putin is the “most dangerous man in the world” and poses a “bigger threat to the U.S. than ISIS,” also known as the Islamic State.

Kasparov said in a recent interview that Putin “plays poker while the rest of the world plays chess,” adding that his actions showed he had a tendency to try to call the world’s bluff.

Kasparov, who is a political activist, said said that the Russian President’s next most likely move would be to threaten to cut gas supplies to Europe and the former Soviet republics before the winter sets in, and that will be enough to force the U.S. to back down from sanctions they recently imposed on Russia.

Speaking to Yahoo News, the chess legend made clear his thoughts on Putin, and what he is capable of, “Putin is the most dangerous man in the world, a greater threat to the United States than the Islamic State,” he said.

After having a rant about how President Obama’s policies vis-a-vis Ukraine led to Russia annexing Crimea, Kasparov also spoke his mind about European leaders who, in his opinion, also showed indifference to Putin’s aggressive actions, in a similar way to leaders before World War Two.

He pointed out the inherent hypocrisy in the U.S. arming Syrian rebels to fight for their interests in the Middle East, while not doing the same for Ukrainian rebel who are fighting Putin.

Kasparov added that sanctions imposed on Russia by the West might eventually work but that would only happen if they remained in place long-term. He also added that he saw an uncertain future for Russia under Putin,

“We should forget about power in Russia changing hands throughout the election process. I’m afraid it will be not a very lawful process and it may eventually end up with the collapse of the country,” he said.