Russian President Vladimir Putin offered this Thursday his first interview to a Western journalist after almost three years of war in Ukraine, in which he expressed his willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict, but refused to enter the internal American political debate. , although he did admit a good personal relationship with Donald Trump. The star journalist of the American extreme right, Tucker Carlson - expelled from the conservative network Fox News for his radical ideas - was chosen to carry out this two-hour interview, which always had a friendly tone, sometimes with laughter, without Carlson asked him no awkward questions.
The star journalist of the American extreme right, Tucker Carlson - expelled from the conservative network Fox News for his radical ideas - was chosen to carry out this two-hour interview, which always had a friendly tone, sometimes with laughter, without Carlson asked him no awkward questions.
Carlson asked him on two occasions if he believed that "another administration after Joe Biden could reestablish communication" between the two countries, and Putin did not want to continue along that line, even admitting that in his career he has had a good relationship with some presidents, like George W. Bush (2001-2009) or Donald Trump (2017-2021). "It's not about who the leader is or one's personality, but about the elites themselves: it's the idea of domination at all costs based on the dominant forces in American society," he reflected.
The interview was disappointing, since not only did he not want to comment on the political future in the US - as many expected - but he also did not make concrete proposals to end the war in Ukraine, beyond showing a generic willingness to negotiate. This will comes up against some supposed "instructions from Western countries that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, obeys", which has even led him - Putin said - to sign a decree to prohibit negotiating with Russia, but in any case neither did Putin. He put some offer on the table.
He assured that there are "American mercenaries" fighting in Ukraine, being the largest group after the Poles, and warned against any idea of sending regular US soldiers, something that "would bring humanity to the brink of a global conflict very serious". And he once again insisted on the US interest in a negotiation: "You have problems at the borders with immigration, problems with the national debt of more than 33 trillion dollars... And you have nothing better to do ? (...) Wouldn't it be better to negotiate with Russia to reach an agreement?"
And he once again insisted on the US interest in a negotiation: "You have problems at the borders with immigration, problems with the national debt of more than 33 trillion dollars... And you have nothing better to do ? (...) Wouldn't it be better to negotiate with Russia to reach an agreement?"
Putin, who seemed very relaxed during the interview and who was able to expand on some of his favorite topics - history, the Russian living space, religion - used abundant minutes to criticize the US' supposed use of the dollar " as a tool of struggle in foreign policy", something that for him represents "one of the biggest strategic errors". According to him, this political use of the dollar applies to the logic of sanctions: "The fact that the US applies restrictive measures to certain countries - many of them allies of Russia, although it did not say so -, such as restricting its transactions, freezing their accounts, etc., causes great concern and sends a signal to the entire world," he noted.
He gave as an example that in his own country, transactions before the start of the war in Ukraine were 80% in dollars and euros, but that the percentage has decreased in favor of the ruble and the yuan, which together now account for 68%.
According to Putin, with the US sanctions on their economy "they believed that this would lead us to total collapse, but nothing sank. What's more, other countries are thinking about it and accelerating their oil payments in (Chinese) yuan." According to Putin, with the US sanctions on their economy "they believed that this would lead us to total collapse, but nothing sank. What's more, other countries are thinking about it and accelerating their oil payments in (Chinese) yuan."
In the interview there was room for the topic of Artificial Intelligence: first the Russian president said that genetic research is a threat to Humanity to the point where "it is now possible to create a superhuman", and then he commented that businessman Elon Musk "has already implanted a chip in the human brain in the US." "I think Elon Musk is unstoppable, he will do what he thinks is necessary. However, they have to find common ground with him, find ways to persuade him. I think he is a smart person, truly. So they will need to come to an agreement with him, because this process needs to be formalized and subject to certain rules," he said.
