The former star of the conservative US broadcaster Fox News, Tucker Carlson, interviewed Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Russia correspondent Calum MacKenzie classifies the interview for SRF.
What is the interview about?
The right-wing US presenter Tucker Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since 2019. The two-hour interview was published on the X platform.
What does Putin say?
At the very beginning of the conversation, Carlson asks Putin about the motives for the war against Ukraine and whether the fear of a US attack on Russia was behind it. Instead, Putin responds with a lecture that covers more than 1,000 years of Eastern European history. With adventurous theses he tries to demonstrate that Russia has a historical right to Ukrainian territory. The lesson lasts about half an hour and leaves Carlson a bit perplexed.
Legend:
Tucker Carlson (l.) in conversation with Vladimir Putin.
Keystone/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV
Is it just about history?
Later it’s also about the here and now, with the Russian president saying little new and sticking to well-known Kremlin slogans, some of which have already been refuted several times. Ukraine was prepared to accept Russian peace conditions, but continued to fight “at the direction of the West”. A defeat for Russia on the battlefield is “by definition impossible,” said Putin. When asked by Carlson, Putin said that a Russian attack on Poland or Latvia was “out of the question.” However, before the major invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin ruled out an attack on that country several times.
Why did Carlson talk to Putin?
Carlson, who is close to former US President Donald Trump, often takes pro-Russian positions and criticizes Western support for Ukraine. Beforehand, he claimed that no Western journalist had tried to speak directly to Putin about the war. However, that is wrong. As the Kremlin itself confirmed this week, Putin receives many inquiries from Western media, but has so far rejected them.
Why did Putin give the interview?
Carlson has long been praised on Russian state television for his pro-Russian views, and his arrival in Moscow caused a stir in Russia. The big interview comes in handy for Putin’s election campaign. But above all, it was an opportunity for him to present his views unquestioningly to a Western audience – Carlson hardly asked any critical questions. For some time now, Putin has been hoping to sow doubts in the West about aid to Ukraine so that the country will be left defenseless. Putin told Carlson that arms deliveries had to stop before there could be an end to the fighting.
What do we learn from the conversation?
In his introduction to the interview, Carlson makes it clear that he expected Putin to criticize NATO expansion as the cause of the war – this version fits Carlson’s worldview. Putin’s history lesson reveals that the Kremlin leader’s focus is on historical revanchism. The interview shows once again that Putin believes his own nationalist propaganda.