From war against Ukraine to US foreign policy: Highlights from Russian President Putin’s interview with Tucker Carlson

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired on Thursday a two-hour interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported Reuters. The Russian autocrat’s wide-ranging talk with Tucker, a Trump cheerleader and consistent supporter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is a first with an American journalist since the two countries went to war two years ago.

The interview, aired on Tucker’s own website as well as Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) handle, shot up to around 90 million views within hours of posting, reported Pravda, a Kremlin mouthpiece. President Putin dived into a plethora of subjects, from US foreign policies to its domestic trouble, the Ukraine conflict, and more. Here are some of the highlights from the interview.

Ukraine: Close to peace talks

Speaking on the issue of the ongoing war between the long-standing rivals, President Putin argued the conflict developed as a result of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) expansionism which posed as a political threat to his country.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership and were invited to join the collective by 28 of the 30 members, with Turkey and Hungary being notable exceptions. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia have expressed interest in joining the collective as well.

Putin claimed that his attempts of extending an olive branch to negotiate with NATO leaders was spurned by US elites.

In terms of a possible peace treaty among the warring nations, Putin held the US responsible. According to him, the conflict has dragged on as a result of the US’ continued supply of weapons to Ukraine. He said, “You have nothing better to do, so you should fight in Ukraine? Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Russia?”

However, western media has reported that Washington has no interest in negotiating with Russia on the matter, and is in no mood to accept Putin’s terms for a ceasefire.

President Putin further touched upon the peace talks in Istanbul, Turkiye in 2022. Putin claimed following the Turkiye talks, Ukraine had come close to agreeing to a deal ending the hostilities, however, backed away after Russian troops were withdrawn from Kyiv.

“We’re not against it. It would be funny if it were not so sad that. This endless mobilisation in Ukraine, the hysteria, the domestic problems, sooner or later it will result in an agreement,” said Putin.

US domestic issues, foreign policy

The interview covered various US domestic issues as Putin continued to take multiple shots at the country’s internal problems.

“You have issues on the border, issues with migration, issues with the national debt,” he told Carlson.  The Russian president alleged that US foreign policy decisions are being dictated by US “elites” and a change in perspective towards Russia is only possible if the “elites change”, too.

Donald Trump and Make America Great Again

Carlson, a staunch Trump supporter, went into varied dialogue with Putin over former US President Donald Trump who is running campaign a second time for the November 2024 presidential polls.

Both parties took turns to praise Trump and his presidential campaign Make America Great Again (MAGA), while Putin especially stressed on the likely Republican candidate’s views on withdrawing military aid from Ukraine.  The Russian president allegedly has close ties with the former US president and said in the interview that a new Trump administration may well be the solution to America’s “warlike” foreign policy.

Trump had previously said that he would end the Russia-Ukraine conflict “very quickly” by ending further US military aid to Ukraine.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich

Talking on the issue of the US Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia on espionage charges, Putin said an agreement can be reached with Washington to free him. He said that Russian and American special services had made some progress in the case after discussions.

However, Reuters reports that in exchange for Gershkovich’s freedom, Russia wants Germany to release Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted of the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin, Putin hinted at in the Tucker interview.

Gershkovich was detained in Russia over a year ago on spying charges and is currently awaiting trial.

NATO and Poland

Though Putin blamed NATO for aiding in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, he expressed no interest in expanding the war to neighbouring countries of Poland or Latvia. Tucker asked the president if there might come a scenario where Kremlin decides to send Russian troops to Poland; Putin replied with a ‘yes’ but only if the country attacks Russia.

He said, “Only in one case, if Poland attacks Russia. Why? Because we have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply don’t have any interest.”

NATO and Russia have always been at odds with each other, since the treaty was signed to keep Russian expansionism at bay. The expansion of NATO from 12 to 30 members has been a source of tension between Russia and the West for years.

In Europe, Russia shares a border with Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia. Of this, apart from Belarus and Ukraine, the others have either joined NATO or are in queue for a membership.

Since Russia and Ukraine went to war, Poland, especially has repeatedly championed Kyiv’s cause, though relations eventually turned sour in late 2023. Poland has taken in thousands of Ukrainian refugees and acted as the logistics hub for the transfer of weaponry from the West.

The Tucker interview comes in the backdrop of multiple national and international troubles the US is juggling. The US lawmakers are currently in the process to debate whether further aid will be sent to Ukraine, after over $110 billion worth of assistance has been sent since February 2022, noted Reuters.

Moreover, according to the news agency, a procedural vote in the US Senate has helped advance a bill that includes $61 billion in new funds for Ukraine. However, it faces uncertainty in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives where dozens of members, particularly those closely allied with former President Donald Trump, have voted against Ukraine aid.

(With PTI inputs)

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