Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, says he will “soon” interview Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Carlson stated that he wanted to interview because “Americans have a right to know everything they can about a war in which they are involved.”
It would be Putin’s first one-on-one interview with a Western journalist since launching his full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Kremlin has yet to comment.
The 54-year-old’s visit to Moscow has been extensively covered by Russian state media, with almost constant coverage of his every move.
“There are risks to doing an interview like this, obviously, so we’ve thought about it over many months,” Carlson said in his announcement video.
Carlson also stated that he paid for the trip to Russia himself and wanted to interview because “most Americans are not informed” about the conflict, which is “reshaping the world”—blaming the mainstream media.
He claimed that Western journalists have interviewed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he previously referred to as a “dictator,” numerous times since the conflict began.
However, Carlson insisted that they are “fawning pep sessions” designed to amplify Mr. Zelensky’s demand for increased US involvement in the war.
Not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview Vladimir Putin- Tucker Carlson
“That is not journalism; it is government propaganda.”
Meanwhile, “not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview” Vladimir Putin, Carlson claimed.
Steve Rosenberg, the BBC‘s Russia Editor, stated that the organization has “filed several requests with the Kremlin in the last 18 months.” “Always a ‘no’ for us.”
Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine has devastated the country and its people.
The United Nations has accused Russian forces of rapes, “widespread” torture, and killings in Ukraine.
Russia has also annexed four more Ukrainian regions since its takeover of Crimea in 2014.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, accusing him of war crimes and illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.
