Kremlin confirms Putin gave interview to ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson
Send a link to a friend
[February 07, 2024]
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin granted an interview to U.S.
television host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, his first
to an American journalist since before Russia's invasion of Ukraine
nearly two years ago.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had agreed to the Carlson
interview because the approach of the former Fox News host differed from
the "one-sided" reporting of the Ukraine conflict by many Western news
outlets.
"When it comes to the countries of the collective West, the large
network media, TV channels, (and) large newspapers can in no way boast
of even trying to at least look impartial in terms of coverage," Peskov
told a regular news briefing on Wednesday.
"These are all media outlets that take an exceptionally one-sided
position. Of course, there is no desire to communicate with such media,
and it hardly makes sense, and it is unlikely that it will be useful."
Asked directly why Carlson had landed an interview with Putin, Peskov
said the American journalist's approach was "in no way pro-Russian, it
is not pro-Ukrainian - it is pro-American".
The interview is likely to be aired on Thursday, Russia's TASS news
agency said, citing reports by the Wall Street Journal
Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 2022, was last
formally interviewed by a U.S. media outlet in October 2021, when CNBC's
Hadley Gamble spoke to him, though he has since spoken to Russian,
Chinese and Kazakh media.
Many Western media organizations have left Moscow or shuttered their
operations due to onerous media laws passed shortly after the war. Wall
Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, was
detained on spying charges in March 2023.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/020724PIX/news_l79.jpg)
Tucker Carlson speaks as conservative leaders and personalities
attend Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona,
U.S. December 18, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin O’Hara/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
Carlson said in a post on X on Tuesday that the interview would
enable Americans to understand Russia's view of the war.
"We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin....We are not
encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview,
but we are urging you to watch it. You should know as much as you
can," he said.
Putin says he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine to
safeguard Russia's national security against what he casts as a
hostile West. Kyiv and its Western allies say it is an unprovoked
war of aggression and imperial-style land grab.
Carlson, who has said much Western media coverage of the war is
biased in Kyiv's favour, said he had also asked Ukraine's President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy for an interview.
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Guy Faulconbridge Editing by Andrew
Osborn and Gareth Jones)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Feb/07/images/ads/current/charrons_bch_2022.png) |