--- description: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the United Kingdom's 'Brexit' vote to leave the European Union was "understandable." title: Vladimir Putin: Brexit Is Result of 'Arrogance' From British Leadership image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f0dd4bb5ba3b957/69889879cd1bba473870128d/vladimir-putin-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Vladimir Putin: Brexit Is Result of 'Arrogance' From British Leadership  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2016 3:53 PM CUT  Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17, 2016, in St. Petersburg Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 17, 2016, in St. PetersburgMikhail Svetlov/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 24, 2016 3:53 PM CUT Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the United Kingdom’s [‘Brexit’ vote to leave the European Union](http://time.com/4381313/brexit-vote-david-cameron-elites/?xid=homepage "undefined") was “understandable.” “It seems to me understandable why this happened,” he said at a summit in Uzbekistan on Friday, [Financial Times reports](http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/liveblogs/2016-06-24/#9713b671c0b0d6c6658acdea908f9b71 "undefined"). “Firstly, no one wants to feed and subsidize the weaker economies.” “Evidently, people are not happy with the resolution of security issues, which have sharply deteriorated on the back of strong flows of migrants,” he continued. He said the vote to leave was a result of “nothing other than arrogance and a superficial approach from the British leadership to issues that are vital to their country and to Europe as a whole.” **Read More:** [_Obama: Brexit Won’t Affect ‘Special Relationship’ Between U.K. and U.S._](http://time.com/4381487/brexit-barack-obama-joe-biden/?xid=tcoshare "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4381775/vladimir-putin-russia-brexit-uk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4381775/vladimir-putin-russia-brexit-uk/"},"headline":"Vladimir Putin: Brexit Is Result of 'Arrogance' From British Leadership","datePublished":"2016-06-24T15:53:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:50:34.867Z","description":"“It seems to me understandable why this happened\"","url":"https://time.com/4381775/vladimir-putin-russia-brexit-uk/","keywords":["russia","Vladimir Putin","United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f0dd4bb5ba3b957/69889879cd1bba473870128d/vladimir-putin-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f0dd4bb5ba3b957/69889879cd1bba473870128d/vladimir-putin-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Russian President Vladimir Putin Attends Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum","caption":"Russian President Vladimir Putin Attends Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum","creditText":"Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4381775/vladimir-putin-russia-brexit-uk/","name":"Vladimir Putin: Brexit Is Result of 'Arrogance' From British Leadership"}}]}] ```