Putin interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Kremlin confirmed.

Carlson released a video from Moscow on Tuesday in which he said he would be interviewing Putin.

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Carlson was chosen for the interview because “he has a position which differs” from other English-language media.

Carlson had claimed that Western journalists interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy multiple times but could not be “bothered” to interview the Russian president.

However, Peskov rejected Carlson's suggestion that no Western journalists had submitted requests to interview Putin.

He said the Kremlin received many requests from large Western television channels and newspapers which, he asserted, “take a one-sided position."

Carlson’s position, Peskov said, “is in no way pro-Russian, nor pro-Ukrainian, but rather pro-American.”

The interview with Putin, Carlson said in his video, will be distributed for free on his website and on X.

First interview to a Western journalist

It is Putin's first interview to a Western journalist since his military offensive against Ukraine two years ago.

Russian state media has also extensively covered Carlson’s visit.

Vladimir Solovyev, one of Russia’s most famous television hosts, said the interview would “break through the blockade and the narrative that exists” in Western media which, he said, focuses on “Putin’s unprovoked, brutal invasion of Ukraine.”

Solovyev, whose show is often critical of Western media, said Carlson is “feared” because he does not align with that narrative.

Carlson who was fired by Fox News in April, announced he was starting his own streaming service in December.

He worked at Fox News for more than a decade and hosted a show where he discussed conspiracy theories about Russia and the January 6 insurrection. Fox offered no explanation for his firing.

Limited contact with int'l media

Putin has heavily limited his contact with international media since he launched the attack in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian authorities have cracked down on media, forcing some independent Russian outlets to close, blocking others and ordering a number of foreign reporters to leave the country.

Two journalists working for US news organisations — The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are in jail on charges they reject.

Western journalists were invited to Putin’s annual press conference in December — the first since the war began — but only two were given the chance to ask a question.