London, UK - Former President Joe Biden used his first major interview since leaving office to blast his successor, Donald Trump, whom he accused of "modern-day appeasement" in his dealings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Biden told the BBC that Putin truly sees Ukraine as part of "mother Russia" and will seek more terriorial expansion.

The Democrat spoke against the backdrop of commemorations for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which marks eight decades since Germany's surrender at the end of World War II.

It was in this context that Biden accused Trump of "modern-day appeasement," referring to the policy of UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who made territorial concessions to Adolf Hitler in a misguided attempt to maintain peace in the 1930s.

Donald Trump Trump meets with far-right former Proud Boys leader at Mar-a-Lago after January 6 pardon

"It is modern-day appeasement," Biden said of Trump's treatment of Putin. "Look, listen to what Putin said when he talked about going from Kyiv into Ukraine, and why."

"He can't stand the fact that the Russian dictatorship that he runs, that the Soviet Union has collapsed. And anybody who thinks he's going to stop is just foolish."

Biden said that he found Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's treatment in the Oval Office "beneath America" and expressed sadness over the scenes that took place.

"I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him," Biden said.