Assange literally had a show on Russia Today.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-assange-tv/wikilea... WikiLeaks founder to host Kremlin-funded TV show
Sorry, if you are prosecuted and no other network gives you a show, what will you do? I'm sure he would have taken a CNN show as well.
This was also in 2012, before the whole Euromaidan thing. Many European politicians lined up to be friends with Russia.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/feb/13/russia.poli...
Here is a site that claims that the deals went on well after the Crimea annexation:
https://www.declassifieduk.org/under-putin-mi6-linked-bp-ext...
I do not know the second site, so search and check for yourself. Britain also took gas via the Nordstream network that had a pipeline through Northern Germany to England.
I would direct such criticisms towards Blair and not towards someone who was under tremendous pressure and frankly fearing for his life.
I'm against double standards. It was wrong from both Assange, Blair and other Western leaders and activists who claimed to care about democracy and human rights to deal with Putin's Russia the way they did.