Vladimir Putin told American conservative host Tucker Carlson, during a meeting, the long video of which was broadcast on Thursday, that a defeat for Russia in Ukraine was “impossible”. This interview, a Kremlin communications operation, was the first granted to a Western journalist since the invasion of Ukraine.
In this message of more than two hours to America and the West, which often took the form of a very subjective history lesson, the Russian president also said he rejected the idea of ??invading the Poland or Latvia, two countries in which his “has no interests”.
“So far there has been the ranting and shouting about [the need] to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” he told the former Fox host News, in a large room where the two men sat face to face. “But now they seem to realize that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. In my opinion, this is impossible by definition. It will never happen. It seems to me that now those in power in the West are also aware of this,” added the man who launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “If this realization has been well understood, they must think about the following. We are ready for this dialogue,” he assured. The words of the master of the Kremlin, who spoke in Russian, were dubbed into English.
Vladimir Putin also affirmed that it was possible to find an agreement for the release of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, detained in Russia for almost a year. “I believe a deal can be reached,” he said. “There is no taboo in addressing this issue. We are ready to resolve it, but some terms are being discussed through special services channels. »
“No interests in Poland, Latvia or elsewhere”
When Tucker Carlson, a close friend of former US President Donald Trump, asked him if he could “imagine a scenario in which you send Russian troops to Poland”, Mr Putin replied: “Only in a case of figure, if Poland attacks Russia. » “We have no interests in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do this? We simply have no interest (…). There’s no question of that,” he added.
The Russian president also affirmed that the election of a new American president, scheduled for November 5 and which should pit Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Joe Biden, would not change relations between the United States and Russia.
“You just asked me if anything would change if another leader came along. It’s not a question of who the leader is, of the personality of a particular person,” Putin said.
Both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are full of praise for each other. Mr. Trump boasted, without elaborating, that he could resolve the war in Ukraine in twenty-four hours if he were re-elected. President Biden has described his Russian counterpart as a war criminal, and shows unwavering support for kyiv.
Russian state media extensively covered presenter Tucker Carlson’s visit, including photos of him at the airport and the famous Bolshoi Theater. According to the Semafor information site, he also met the American-Russian computer scientist and whistleblower Edward Snowden during his stay in Moscow.
