Russia’s Vladimir Putin appears to be playing dumb to avoid taking the blame for mounting fallout over his war against Ukraine.

At a meeting with officials on economic issues Tuesday, the Russian leader stated the obvious and admitted that 2022 had been a “difficult” year for the country. But in the same breath he suggested the country’s woes had somehow been impossible to foresee.

“2022 was a very challenging year for us and we managed to get through some of the risks that arose largely unexpectedly,” he said, according to RIA Novosti. He went on to say the Russian government “didn’t know and didn’t understand” logistical, financial, and budgetary risks in 2022, but that they now “see 2023 better in terms of these risks.”

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Weeks before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin was repeatedly warned by those within his inner circle that the move would be suicide for the Russian economy, according to the Financial Times.

Read more: Daily Beast