Putin thanks Tucker Carlson for his role as a “mediator” with the Western public

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he was grateful to American broadcaster Tucker Carlson for his widely watched interview and his role as a “mediator” with the West.

• Read also: The West versus Russia: Will Putin win?

• Read also: Putin is using Canada to justify the “denazification” of Ukraine

• Read also: Putin says defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible”

In response to a question from a journalist and in statements published by the New York Times, Putin announced: “Since we are unable to conduct a direct dialogue today (…), we must be grateful to Mr. Carlson for being able to do so through him.” Kremlin.

However, Putin said he was “completely dissatisfied” with the long interview, his first with a Western journalist since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began, which was broadcast this week and watched by more than 200 million viewers. times on

The Russian president said he expected “aggressive” behavior and “tough questions” from the former Fox News host. “Not only was I ready for it, but I wanted it, because it would give me the opportunity to respond in the same way,” Putin said.

However, Mr. Carlson “tried to interrupt me several times, but in an abrupt way,” continued the Russian president, who nevertheless praised the “patience” of the conservative American journalist, who privately listened to a long lesson in a very subjective story about Vladimir Putin during this interview. .

“But he went hard in his own way. According to his plan,” said Mr. Putin, who also complained that his statements were then “distorted” in the West.

In this message, which lasted more than two hours to the Americans and Europeans, Putin specifically stressed that Russia's defeat in Ukraine was “impossible” while saying that he was ready for “dialogue” with the West.