Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired Thursday that Russia will fight for its interests, but is not interested in expanding its war in Ukraine to other countries, such as Poland and Latvia. “Only in one case, (s.s. We will go to war with Poland) if Poland attacks Russia first. Why; Because we have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why should we do this? We simply have no interest.”
Putin made the comments in a more than two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson, his first interview with an American journalist in two years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The interview was conducted in Moscow on Tuesday and aired by tuckercarlson.com. Tucker Carlson is not a random choice. He has been highly defensive, has a sympathetic view of Putin, and maintains excellent relations with Donald Trump, as does Vladimir Putin. Conversely, a reporter with sentiments closer to the Democrats would be stricter in his questions.
Tucker Carlson is a conservative journalist who maintains a pro-Russian line, in the framework of the American alt right.
“What business are American soldiers in Poland?”
“I don’t understand why American soldiers have to fight in Ukraine,” asked Vladimir Putin in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson. He sent a message of negotiation, making it clear, however, that Russia will fight to the end for its interests.
“There are mercenaries from the United States. The largest number of mercenaries comes from Poland, with mercenaries from the United States in second place and mercenaries from Georgia in third place. Well, if one has the desire to send in regular troops, that would certainly bring humanity to the brink of a very serious global conflict. This is obvious. Does the United States need it? For what reason; Thousands of miles away from your national territory. Don’t you have something better to do? You have problems at the border. Issues with immigration, issues with the national debt. More than $33 trillion.”
“You have nothing better to do, so you must fight in Ukraine. Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Russia? Make a deal. Already understanding the situation that is developing today, realizing that Russia will fight for its interests to the end. And realizing that this is essentially a return to common sense, start respecting our country and its interests and look for concrete solutions. It seems to me that this is much smarter and more rational,” said the Russian president, in an interview that appeared full of confidence.
Vladimir Putin admonished the journalist on more than one occasion, using a common Russian line that “Westerners cannot understand Russian history.”
“There will never be a defeat of Russia on the battlefield”
Putin spoke in Russian and his remarks were dubbed into English. He began with lengthy remarks about Russia’s relations with Ukraine, Poland and other countries.
The Kremlin said Putin agreed to Carlson’s interview because the former Fox News host’s approach “differed from the one-sided coverage of the conflict in Ukraine by many Western news outlets.” “Russia’s defeat in Ukraine is impossible and NATO must accept Moscow’s territorial gains there,” President Vladimir Putin tells US talk show host Tucker Carlson in an interview airing now.
“There was noise and clamor about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” Putin says. “In my opinion, this is impossible by definition. It’s never going to happen.”
“If you really want the fighting to stop, you have to stop supplying weapons”
“I will tell you what we are saying about this issue and what we are conveying to the American leadership. If you really want the fighting to stop, you have to stop supplying weapons,” he said. “You just asked me if another leader will come and change anything? It has nothing to do with the leader. It has nothing to do with a particular person’s personality.
President Vladimir V. Putin called on the United States to “make a deal” by ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia in order to end the war. “Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Russia? Shall we make a deal?’ he reported.
“If so, if the realization has come (in NATO), they have to think about what to do next. We are ready for this dialogue,” Mr Putin said. Responding to Carlson’s question about whether Nato could accept Russian control of parts of Ukraine, Mr Putin said: “Let them think about how to do it with dignity. There are options if there is a will.”
“All that matters is de-Nazification.” For the first time, Putin expanded on what he means by that. “This means banning any kind of neo-Nazi movement. We need to get rid of those people who maintain this concept and support this practice and try to maintain it,” he said, pointing out that one of the conditions for making peace remains the replacement of Zelensky. The Russian president also said that “the Western media are talking about nuclear war in order to scare their citizens into supporting Ukraine, showing Russia as the “bad guy”.
Perhaps the closest thing to a smile that Vladimir Putin has ever shown in an interview
About the American demographer Evan Gerskovich who is being held in Russian prisons as a spy
Russian President Vladimir Putin said it may be possible to free Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is awaiting trial on espionage charges, in exchange for a Russian prisoner. The Russian president suggested that in return, Moscow would like Germany to release Vadim Krashikov, who was convicted of killing a Chechen dissident in 2019 in Berlin.
Gershkovich was arrested on March 29, 2023 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and charged with attempting to obtain defense secrets. He and his newspaper vehemently deny the charges, and the US government has labeled him wrongfully imprisoned. “We are willing to work it out, but there are certain terms that are being discussed through the channels of the special services. I believe that an agreement can be reached,” Putin said, stressing that Russia’s partners must take, he said, mutual steps.
“There have been many successful examples of these talks being successful. “It will probably be a success, but we have to reach an agreement,” Putin said. nRussia and the United States have previously agreed to high-profile prisoner swaps – most recently in December 2022, when Moscow swapped Brittney Griner, an American basketball star convicted of drug offenses in Russia, for Russian arms dealer Viktor Boot. Putin, without mentioning Krashikov by name, spoke of a person who “out of patriotic feelings neutralized a bandit in one of the European capitals.”
Source: in.gr