Vladimir Putin, in his first interview since Ukraine war: “Trump was a refreshing break” | International

Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson in Moscow this Tuesday to massage Donald Trump and give him free publicity. “We have received countless insults and slanders from generations of (US) politicians. Mr. Trump was a refreshing break. He’s very popular in Russia, although he’s not going to help them at all,” the Kremlin leader said after being asked about the nickname (“The Killer”) bestowed on him by President Joe Biden after he invaded Ukraine. “If he wins again, our The line of communication would open immediately, then (during Trump’s presidency) there was no war, whereas now we have no dialogue with President Biden.”

Two hours and seven minutes of rhetorical questions, and several monologues, decided for complexity to show the Kremlin leader and broadcast, on Carlson’s part, a somewhat subliminal republican message, in a display of propaganda and propaganda that apparently satisfied both sides. They reciprocated with shared jokes and laughter, as well as with questions that gave rise to various conspiracy theories.

The first block was occupied by the war in Ukraine. The two seemed to agree on an invasion of Ukraine, ie, reasons for Moscow to invade the neighboring country in late February 2022. Carlson asked if Russia was a threat. “Why do you think the US might launch a sudden attack against Russia?” “I never said that… is this a A program of conversation Or a serious conversation?” Putin responded to Carlson’s cheerful laugh: “It’s good, yes, haha.”

Invited to explain the reasons for the invasion, Putin launched into a lengthy historic monologue, justifying Moscow’s inalienable right to the neighboring country’s territory, sparking the debate and perceived spontaneity at the start. A display of history that went back to the 9th century, without giving rise to replicas and that already allowed us to estimate the extent of the interview. The review did not deviate a millimeter from what was already said and defended by the Kremlin: Ukraine is a recent invention as a country, an artificial construction, without historical roots. Overreacting, Carlson appeared surprised at all times, with a studied expression between interest and lethargy that suggested he knew the answers beforehand: it’s hard to imagine he shouldn’t have presented the questionnaire beforehand.

Putin spent more than an hour with the historical chapter, from primitive Ukrainian Russia to the politics of President Leonid Kuchma or the 2014 presidential election. “When did you decide (to invade Ukraine)?” asked the Republican television preacher. . with the ” Rebellion (coup)” on the ground, Putin responded, pointing out that Moscow was unwilling to allow “neo-Nazism” on its side. One of the Kremlin’s avowed pretexts for “special military operations” — as it officially calls the war — is that elements ” Denazification” which, according to him, dominates the “Kiev regime” from the Maidan. And even before that, he explained: “After independence (from the USSR), Ukraine began, as some analysts say, to find its identity. And it is this “Can’t think of anything better than to put false heroes who allied with Hitler as the head of identity,” the Russian president said, referring to Stepan Bandera, a historical figure claimed by some of Maidan’s opponents.

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Another rhetorical question: “Why didn’t you defend during your first 22 years as president that Ukraine is not a real country?” Putin: “Soviet Ukraine got a large number of territories it never had anything to do with, first of all on the Black Sea coast” where Crimea is located, invaded and annexed by Moscow in the spring of 2014, before fighting over Donbass. kyiv Those territories “were formerly known as Novorossiya (New Russia) when Russia acquired them as a result of the Russo-Turkish Wars. Therefore, we have every reason to say that, of course, Ukraine is, in a sense, an artificial state created by the will of Stalin.”

“If NATO expands, everything will be like the Cold War again,” he said, explaining why he rejected Ukraine’s Atlanticist and European approach from an uneasy ground. “The West fears a strong China more than a strong Russia, because it has enormous economic potential and is a shadow over the United States, whose biggest strategic mistake is making the dollar the principle of its foreign policy.” Regarding the “threat” posed by NATO, he cited the bombing of Belgrade in 1998, “contrary to all norms of international law.” “It was the United States that opened Pandora’s box,” he added. He also criticized the US role in Iraq, while often boasting that he had proposed a common missile defense system to the US and NATO, which, he said, had been rejected by counterparts. “NATO is trying to intimidate and intimidate its own population with a non-existent Russian threat (…) We have no interest in attacking Poland, Latvia or any neighboring country,” he said with a laugh. “You can’t pick your neighbors like you can’t pick your next of kin,” he even joked.

The craziest theories were addressed in the interview. “Who blew up the Nord Stream (gas pipeline)?” “You, of course,” Putin said, pointing at his interviewer. “I was so busy that day, I didn’t fly the Nord Stream,” Carlson replied with a smile. “You may have an alibi, but the CIA doesn’t,” Putin concluded. More laughs, more jokes, from Carlson, who tried to show journalistic nerve with another question on the plate: “Why doesn’t Russia produce evidence of United States culpability in the destruction of the Nord Stream to win the propaganda war? ” Putin: “It is very difficult to defeat the United States in a propaganda war: you control all the world’s media. We will not get the result, the whole world is already clear what happened.

The second block, because it could not be otherwise, focused on the United States based on “bitterness”, or rather, on the United States as a target – this is how he defined it – that Carlson believed he understood in the Russian language. President in the West’s face: “Russia and the West are not lovers,” Putin said, somewhere between assured and disaffected. Regarding the hypothetical existence of contacts with Washington to resolve the war, the president was clear: “If they really want to stop hostilities, they should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine”, he stressed, while claiming not to remember the last time he spoke. . With Biden (“I told him: you’re making a mistake” with your support for Ukraine). Still, he was more direct than usual about how he sees the end of the invasion of Ukraine: not with a military victory, but with a deal with the West. Russia has “never ruled out negotiations” and would welcome any attempt by Washington to discuss a peace deal for Ukraine, he stressed.

To heat up the anticipation generated by the interview, recorded on Tuesday and openly broadcast this Thursday on his portal and through his company Neuralink -, Karlsson defied the major traditional media this week, with baseless claims that someone with the Russian president No interview requested. , and that Western journalists have interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on several occasions, but have not “bothered” to interview the Russian President. The former star Fox anchor’s demand for press freedom comes as Moscow authorities put two American journalists behind bars (Ivan Gershkovich, newspaper The Wall Street Journal, and Alsou Kurmsheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), have forced the closure of independent Russian media outlets, blocked others and ordered many foreign journalists to leave the country. Numerous media outlets from Western countries have addressed repeated requests for interviews to the Kremlin. All of them have been ignored. “Does Tucker really think we reporters haven’t been trying to interview President Putin every day since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine?” CNN’s Christian Amanpour wrote in X. “It’s absurd: we will still ask for interviews, as we have done for years.”

The timing of this informational bombshell—thanks to Elon Musk, the third person most interested in the spec and who promoted it live-tweeting during its broadcast—doesn’t seem to be the result of chance. Carlson’s visit to Moscow comes as fighting in Ukraine stalls and against a backdrop of growing divisions in the Republican Party over Putin, the war and aid to Ukraine. Trump has pushed for cuts in aid to Ukraine, and the Republican majority that controls the House of Representatives has complied. While many Republicans criticize the Russian president and his aggression, Trump and others have argued that the United States has no interest in helping Ukraine defend itself. Another item, Putin’s apparent toast to Trump’s victory in November comes on the same day that Joe Biden’s memory limitations were reported, a fact that could further weaken his support among voters.

Kremlin-affiliated media heated up the anticipation generated by interviews on social networks, distorting the weekly’s information. Newsweek According to which Carlson may be allowed by the EU to visit the Kremlin leader. In statements to the magazine, MEP Guy Verhofstadt, who has asked if the EU considers imposing a “travel ban” on what he defines as a spokesman for Donald Trump and Putin, is in favor of this. “As Putin is a war criminal and the EU bans everyone who helps him in this effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service will also investigate his case,” Verhofstadt told the publication. Pro-Kremlin journalists attributed the European Union to nothing more than the point of view of a member of the European Parliament.

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