What's behind it all

Moscow: Putin gave interview to right-wing US talk show host

Tucker Carlson (right) has conducted an interview with Russia's ruler Putin.

(Bild: AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given an in-depth interview to a US journalist for the first time since the start of his war of aggression against Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Wednesday that former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson had conducted the interview with Putin in Moscow.

The right-wing talk show host, who has been in Moscow for days and praised the Russian capital as great, had announced the interview on Tuesday evening.

Kremlin justifies interview
The US broadcaster CNN also reported on Carlson's interview plans. Carlson's position differs from that of Western media, with whom talks would make no sense, Peskov explained. Several Western media outlets had also requested an interview with Putin.

US talk show host is also a Trump supporter
From the Kremlin's point of view, however, Carlson, who is a supporter of former US President Donald Trump, has long listened to Russian positions. "He has an attitude that is different from the others. It is in no way pro-Russian, it is not pro-Ukrainian, it is most likely pro-American," said Peskov. The 54-year-old Carlson, who has an audience of millions, is also known for spreading conspiracy theories.

Tucker Carlson (right) has conducted an interview with Russia's ruler Putin.

(Bild: AFP)

Peskov contradicted Carlson, who had claimed that other journalists had not wanted to interview Putin. "We receive many requests for an interview with the president," said Peskov. Major Western TV stations and newspapers had tried to do so.

He has an attitude that differs from the others. It is in no way pro-Russian, it is not pro-Ukrainian, it is most likely pro-American.

Kreml-Sprecher Dmitri Peskow über Tucker Carlson

"These are all mass media, all of which represent an exclusively one-sided position." There is no point or benefit in talking to such media. Peskov said that it was up to Carlson to provide information about the circumstances of the interview and the timing of its publication.

"The ugliest government propaganda"
The US journalist had stated that he would make the interview available on the social network X and on his website free of charge and in full length without editing. Carlson said that all Americans should make up their own minds away from the "ugliest government propaganda" under US President Joe Biden, because this war is largely being paid for by them.

Criticism of the US mass media
"We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin, we are here because we love the USA," said Carlson. He said that the war was already fundamentally changing the global economic order created after the Second World War, which had brought prosperity to the West. It was about historical upheavals that Americans needed to be informed about. Carlson accused the US mass media of lying to viewers and readers by omitting information.

Fired from Fox News the previous year
Carlson was fired from Fox News last year. The talk show host had hosted a highly rated evening program there for years. He used this to spread conspiracy theories and false reports and to incite hatred against minorities. Shortly afterwards, he started his own show on X.

We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin, we are here because we love the USA.

Tucker Carlson

TV stations contradict Carlson
When announcing the interview, Carlson had said that no Western journalist had "bothered" to speak to Putin since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was contradicted not only by Peskov, but also by several Western journalists. They stated that they had already tried to speak to Putin. "Does Tucker really believe that we journalists haven't tried to interview Putin every day since the start of his invasion of Ukraine?" asked Christiane Amanpour from the US television channel CNN. This is "absurd".

"We will continue to ask for an interview, as we have been doing for years," she added. BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg also explained that he had sent "several requests", but Putin had always refused. The Russian president has not given an interview to any Western media outlet since launching his attack on Ukraine in February 2022.