As of: February 9, 2024, 4:52 a.m
By: Helmi Krappitz
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Tucker Carlson is in Moscow for an interview with Vladimir Putin - which causes sharp criticism.
Experts warn against Putin's puppet game.
Update from February 8th, 6:40 a.m.:
Vladimir Putin rarely gives interviews - and when he does, it is usually to Moscow's state media.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Western media have always brushed off their inquiries.
At least until now.
The right-wing US presenter Tucker Carlson was actually able to conduct a detailed interview with Putin.
The conversation is scheduled to be published on Carlson's website later this evening.
Carlson announced this on Instagram.
The deadline is midnight in Germany (6 p.m. US Eastern Time).
Tucker Carlson conducted an in-depth interview with Vladimir Putin.
This causes a lot of criticism.
© Natalia Kolesnikova and Giorgio Viera/afp
Tucker Carlson receives criticism for announcing Putin interview: “Valve for propaganda”
Moscow – Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson is getting serious.
On Tuesday evening (February 6th), he shared a video on the X platform, formerly Twitter - and announced his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are in Moscow this evening,” it said.
The right-wing US moderator explained that he would conduct the interview “because it is our job.
We are in journalism.
It is our duty to inform people.” The interview will be published “unedited” and “not behind a paywall” on his own website and on the X platform.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that the interview had already taken place.
The interview itself has not yet been published and an exact time has not been given - but the announcement is already full of untruths.
Speech on X: Tucker Carlson announces interview with Putin
In a monologue, Carlson criticizes the Western media and accuses them of anti-Russian propaganda.
This causes an outcry.
Because: Carlson claims in his video that Western media have not made an effort to interview Putin since the start of the Ukraine war.
Instead, journalists conducted propaganda interviews with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
That's not true, because the Kremlin has always rejected interview requests to the Russian president.
“Absurd”: Journalists contradict Carlson’s claims – Putin cancels Western interviews
Journalist Christiane Amanpour from US broadcaster
CNN
quickly contradicted Carlson's account on
“It's absurd - we will continue to ask for an interview, as we have been doing for years.”
BBC
journalist Steve Rosenberg also spoke on the X platform.
In the last 18 months,
the BBC
has sent several questions to Putin and the Kremlin - always with a resounding "no" in response.
Putin interview: Carlson interviews Kremlin boss – rejections to Western media
“He says he is interviewing Putin because freedom of speech is Americans’ birthright,” wrote
BBC
Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who was expelled from Russia in 2021 after being deemed a threat to national security.
“I guess he knows that Putin has made it a crime to tell the truth about Russia's war on Ukraine?
That independent Russian journalists fled to avoid prison?”
While the right-wing ex-
Fox News
presenter is conducting an interview with Putin in Russia, an American journalist and a US journalist are known to be in Russian captivity on charges of espionage.
These are the reporter from “Radio Free Europe” Alsu Kurmasheva and
The Wall Street Journal
reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Putin propaganda: Russia sees the West as an enemy - Carlson as a chess piece?
An interview provides Putin with a platform for his propaganda.
According to the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Kremlin boss sees the war in Ukraine as a fight against the West and not against Ukraine itself. The aim is therefore to convince Western countries through negotiations to consider Ukraine as a to recognize Russian territory.
Agreeing to an interview with Carlson could be an attempt by Putin to use the American as a pawn.
Finally, the Russian news agency Tass
also reported
on the upcoming interview publication.
“Valve for Putin’s propaganda”: Carlson’s interview will probably serve Putin’s goals
“Tucker Carlson is not a journalist, he is a propagandist,” criticized political
scientist
Ian Bremmer on
Former longtime US State Department official Steven Pifer also sees danger in Carlson's Putin interview: "It is unfortunate that an American moderator who is unlikely to ask challenging questions is offering Putin an outlet for his propaganda points," said Piper
CNN
.
Ultimately, Putin's goal is to further fuel the division between Russia and the West.
(dpa/hk)