Tucker Carlson has shared his longform interview with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, discussing the political chief’s justifications for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The video, operating greater than two hours, represents the primary time that the Russian chief has been interviewed by a Western journalist because the battle began practically two years in the past.

“The interview, as you will note in the event you watch it, is primarily concerning the conflict in progress, the conflict in Ukraine — the way it began, what’s occurring and, most pressingly, the way it would possibly finish,” Carlson stated firstly of the video, chatting with the digicam whereas standing in entrance of the Kremlin. “Firstly of the interview, we requested the obvious query, which is ‘Why did you do that? Did you’re feeling a risk, an imminent bodily risk, and that’s your justification?’ The reply we received shocked us. Putin went on for a really very long time, in all probability half an hour, concerning the historical past of Russia going again to the eighth century. And actually, we thought this was a filibustering method and located it annoying and interrupted him a number of occasions.”

“However we concluded ultimately, for what it’s price, that it was not a filibustering method. There was no time restrict on the interview. We ended it after two hours. As an alternative what you’re about to see appeared, to us, honest, whether or not you agree with it or not,” Carlson continued. “Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a historic declare to components of western Ukraine. So our opinion could be to view, in that gentle, as a honest expression of what he thinks.”

Carlson introduced the interview on Tuesday, the identical day that the interview came about on the Kremlin in Moscow. On the time, the previous Fox Information anchor claimed that “not a single Western journalist had bothered to interview the president of the opposite nation on this battle.” The Kremlin denied the allegation, stating it has denied a number of publications’ requests to talk with Putin. Moreover, in March 2022, shortly following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia handed a legislation deeming it unlawful to publish “false data” concerning the navy — many information organizations extricated their workers members from the nation.

Throughout the interview, Carlson brings up the subject of Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned for greater than 250 days after being charged with espionage, which the U.S. authorities and the Journal deny. The anchor expressed his hope that Gershkovich could be launched.

“Now we have finished so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I believe we now have run out of them,” Putin stated when requested about the potential for releasing Gershkovich. “Now we have by no means seen anybody reciprocate to us in an identical method … I don’t rule out that the individual you seek advice from could return to his motherland. We would like the U.S. Particular Providers to consider how they will contribute to attaining the targets our particular companies are pursuing.”

When requested to clarify the blocks of alliances within the geopolitical scenario, Putin turned extra obscure.

“Pay attention, you’ve got stated that the world is breaking into two hemispheres. A human mind is split into two hemispheres. One is chargeable for one sort of actions, the opposite one is extra about creativity and so forth. However it’s nonetheless one in the identical head,” Putin stated. “The world must be a single entire. Safety must be shared, moderately than a requirement for the golden billion. That’s the solely state of affairs the place the world might be steady, sustainable and predictable. Till then, whereas the pinnacle is cut up in two components it’s an sickness a critical opposed situation.”

Carlson shared the total interview free of charge viewing by way of the Tucker Carlson Community — a digital platform that he launched following his exit from Fox Information final summer season, touting it as “a substitute for legacy media.”