Moscow, Russia – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson yielded controversial comments about Ukraine, the Soviet Union, and NATO. Putin’s revisionist historical tirade and pontificating on various topics drew attention and criticism. Analysts believe Putin’s choice to talk to Carlson was based partly on his perceived sympathy and to appeal to the Republican Party during an election year. Carlson, who was sacked from Fox last year, was critiqued for not asking any questions about Russia’s attacks on civilian areas or critical infrastructure in Ukraine, war crimes, or political crackdowns.
Throughout the interview, Carlson posed esoteric questions and seemed to goad Putin into alleging a U.S. deep state and promoting other conspiracy theories. But Putin dominated the conversation, recycling justifications for the invasion of Ukraine and claiming Moscow withdrew its troops from Kyiv in 2022 as part of a peace deal. He also made direct comments about the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg last year. Putin claimed that Gershkovich was working for the U.S. intelligence services, a claim vehemently denied by Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the White House.
However, late last year, the Kremlin rejected a “significant offer” that would have seen the release of Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine also incarcerated in Russia. During the interview with Carlson, Putin said that he believed an agreement on an exchange was possible and that he hoped Gershkovich would return home. Nonetheless, he claimed that Moscow had “run out of gestures of goodwill.” The heated discussion between Putin and Carlson offers a glimpse into the strained relations between Russia and the U.S., shedding light on the political tensions and narratives at play in the international arena.