Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an interview to American presenter Tucker Carlson on Tuesday (6), the Kremlin said on Wednesday (7).
This is the first time Putin has spoken to a US journalist since Russia's invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin agreed to the interview with Carlson because the former Fox News host's approach is different from the “one-sided” coverage of the conflict in Ukraine by many Western media outlets.
“When it comes to Western countries, the big media networks, the TV channels and the big newspapers cannot in any way boast of trying to at least appear impartial in terms of coverage,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
“All these media outlets take an exceptionally one-sided position. It is clear that there is no desire to communicate with these media outlets, and it hardly makes sense, and it is unlikely to be useful.”
Asked directly why Carlson got an interview with Putin, Peskov said the American journalist's approach was different.
“Your point of view is different from others. It is not at all pro-Russian, it is not pro-Ukrainian. It is pro-American, but at least it is drastically different from the stance of the traditional Anglo-Saxon media,” said the Kremlin spokesman.
The interview will likely air this Thursday (8), Russian news agency TASS said, citing a Wall Street Journal report.
Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was last formally interviewed by a US media outlet in October 2021, when CNBC's Hadley Gamble spoke to him, although he has since spoken to the media Russian, Chinese and Kazakh.
Many Western broadcasters left Moscow or ceased operations due to onerous media laws passed shortly after the war.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, was arrested on espionage charges in March 2023.
Carlson said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that the interview would allow Americans to understand Russia's view of the war.
“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We're not encouraging you to agree with what Putin might say in this interview, but we are asking you to watch it. You should know as much as you can,” he said.
Why I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/hqvXUZqvHX
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 6, 2024
Putin says he has sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine to safeguard Russia's national security against what he considers a hostile West.
Kiev and its Western allies say this is a war of unprovoked aggression and imperial-style land grabbing.
Carlson, who said much of Western media coverage of the war is biased in favor of Kiev, said he also requested an interview with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Source: CNN Brasil
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