Most of the interview focused on Ukraine, where the war is nearing the two-year mark, with Putin pointing at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to conduct talks with the Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to urge Washington to recognize Moscow’s interests and persuade Ukraine to sit down for talks.
Putin pointed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to conduct talks with the Kremlin. He argued that it’s up to Washington to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and convince Kyiv, which he called a U.S. “satellite,” to sit down for negotiations. It was Putin’s first interview with a Western media figure since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Asked by Carlson whether Russia would release Gershkovich, Putin said Moscow is open to talks but repeated that the reporter was charged with espionage, an accusation Gershkovich has denied. He pointed to a man imprisoned in a “U.S.-allied country” for “liquidating a bandit” who killed Russian soldiers during the fighting in the Caucasus: “He put our soldiers taken prisoners on a road and then drove a car over their heads. There was a patriot who liquidated him in one of the European capitals.”