Former Russian Fox News host Tucker Carlson says he interviewed Putin – Winnipeg Free Press

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given an interview to former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. This is Putin's first interview with a Western journalist since his massive invasion of Ukraine began two years ago.

Carlson released a video on Tuesday in which he said he would be interviewing the Russian president from Moscow. Carlson claimed that Western journalists had interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy several times, but “didn't bother” to interview Putin.

Since launching the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has severely limited his contact with the international media. Since the occupation, Russian authorities have suppressed the media, forced the closure of independent Russian publications, and ordered a number of foreign journalists to leave the country. Two journalists working for US news organizations – The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Azat Europe/Radio Liberty reporter Alsu Kurmasheva – are in prison on charges they have denied.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Carlson was chosen for the interview because he had “his own position” from other English-language media.

Peskov also rejected Carlson's suggestion that no Western journalist had requested an interview with Putin, and said the Kremlin had received numerous requests from major Western TV channels and newspapers, which he claimed were “in a one-sided position.”

Carlson's position, Peskov said, “is by no means pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian, but rather American.”