The long-awaited interview of the Russian president with Tucker Carlson – The US orchestrated the 2014 coup in Ukraine – What did he say about “supersonic missiles” and NATO –? Watch video
Vladimir Putin took aim at US President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton and the CIA in his long-awaited interview with Tucker Carlson, where he talked about his personal relationship with Donald Trump and George W. Bush, said he was willing to negotiate on the war in Ukraine, made it clear that he would not attack a NATO member country and noted that the West fears a strong China more than a strong Russia.
The two-hour interview was published on Carlson's website, the Tucker Carlson Network , shortly before 6 pm on Thursday (local time, s.b. at 01:00 Greek time).
Speaking through a translator, Putin began by answering a question about the war in Ukraine with: “Do we have a talk show or a serious interview?”
He then gave Carlson a “historical background” to the conflict in Ukraine, before defending his military's action, while also making a series of serious claims such as that Bill Clinton offered Russia a seat in NATO but was turned down by the staff of Russia has superior “supersonic missiles” than any other nation, that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is a “spy” and that the CIA blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.
Putin supported the his nation's military capability, saying that Russian forces have “built hypersonic systems with intercontinental range and we continue to develop them. We are now ahead of everyone else, the United States and other countries in the development of hypersonic strike systems. And we improve them every day.
Russia's defeat in the war in Ukraine is “impossible by definition,” Vladimir Putin said.
“There have been rumblings that Russia should be defeated strategically on the battlefield,” the Russian president said. . “In my opinion, this is impossible by definition. It will never happen.”
The 2014 coup in Ukraine was organized by the CIA
When asked what was the decisive moment when he decided to launch his attack, Putin replied, “initially, it was the coup in Ukraine” – referring to the ouster of Zelensky's predecessor Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
“And what triggered the current events? First, the current leadership of Ukraine will not implement the Minsk Agreements,” Putin continued. The Minsk Accords were a series of treaties that sought to end the Donbas war between Ukraine and Russian separatist groups, signed in 2014.
“The coup in Ukraine was clearly organized by the CIA,” said the Russian president, referring to a miscalculation by the Russian leadership as well.
“The new leadership in Ukraine started the attacks in Donbas against the civilian population with artillery and air force while NATO was promising to open its doors to the Ukrainian regime. We could not remain indifferent, this could destroy Russia itself, while it was not possible to leave our Russian brothers at the mercy of the coup plotters in Donbas,” he added.
Putin noted that then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had agreed to early elections but the coup plotters had other plans and the support of European countries such as France and Germany.
As the discussion turned to Putin's relationship with the US, he himself thought that a change of president would change the outcome of the war – but praised Trump.
“You just asked me if another leader comes and changes anything? It's not about the leader,” he said, emphasizing the good personal relationship he had with Donald Trump.
“It's not about the personality of a particular person. I had a very good relationship with Bush, let's say. I know that in the United States, he was portrayed as a kind of peasant who doesn't understand much. I assure you this is not the case.
He went on to say that he had a similarly warm relationship with former President Donald Trump, saying: “It's not about the personality of the leader. This is the mentality of the elites. If the idea of dominance at any cost, based on dynamic actions, dominates American society, nothing will change. It will only get worse”.
The US and the EU have led the Istanbul talks to a wreck – Our goal is the de-Nazification of Ukraine
Putin has dramatically claimed that a peace deal on the Ukraine war was once close to being agreed, accusing the “western side” of wanting to keep the war going for as long as possible.
“We are willing to negotiate” , he said.
“It is the western side and Ukraine is obviously a satellite state of the US. It is obvious. I don't want you to take this as me looking for a strong word or an insult. But we both understand what's going on.
“As soon as the military operation began in 2022, Russia was ready for negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, and this was shown in the Istanbul talks. Then the US and its satellites in the EU told us that it is not right to hold talks with Russian troops outside Kiev and we withdrew them. But the West had made its decisions”, emphasized the Russian president who clarified that the de-Nazification of Ukraine remains the main goal of the special military operation.
Referring to the issue of negotiations, Putin recalled that the Ukrainian president has also prohibited them by law, while answering a related question from an American journalist, he emphasized that he has to speak with the US president before the start of the war in Ukraine.
< p>“You are making a mistake of historic proportions by supporting everyone in Ukraine. If you want to know what Biden said about both this and nuclear weapons, ask him.”
The West is more afraid of a strong China than a strong Russia
“The West fears a strong China more than it fears a strong Russia, because Russia has 150 million people and China has 1.5 billion people. And its economy is growing by leaps and bounds, or 5% annually,” Putin emphasized.
🚨 FULL INTERVIEW 🚨 Vladimir Putin X Tucker Carlson ⚠️ Watch Now: pic.twitter.com/3eUT6LLwrX
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) February 8, 2024
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The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines was carried out by the CIA
When asked if he knows who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines, the Russian leader laughed and replied: “Sure.” Tucker Carlson jokingly replied that he was busy that day, with Putin continuing: “You personally may have an alibi, but the CIA doesn't.”
“You know, I won't go into details, but people always say in such cases, look for someone who is interested,” the Russian president continued.
“But in this case, we should not just look for someone who is interested, but also for someone who has potential, because there may be many interested parties, but not all of them are capable at the bottom of the Baltic Sea to carry out such an explosion.
These two elements must be connected.< /p>
Who is interested and who is capable of doing it?”
We will not attack any NATO country
Sending a message against Russophobia, Putin made it clear that Russia is not going to attack any NATO country and mentioned Poland, Latvia by name.
The Russian president ruled out the possibility of his country's armed forces invading Poland or Latvia, countries where Russia has “no interests”, during an interview with US anchor Tucker Carlson granted this week and broadcast yesterday Thursday afternoon in the USA (at 01:00 Greek time).
“We have no interests in Poland, Latvia, or elsewhere. Why would we do this? We simply have no interest (…) There is no question,” replied the Russian president when asked if “you can imagine a scenario in which you would send Russian troops to Poland.”
Putin considers possible “deal” for the release of American journalist Evan Gershkovich
The Russian president has said that a deal is likely to be reached to release American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for almost a year time.
“I think we can reach an agreement,” he said. “There are no taboos in settling this issue. We are ready to resolve it, but some terms are under discussion through the channels of the special services,” he added.
