As of: February 20, 2024, 6:13 a.m
By: Nadja Zinsmeister
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Shortly after the controversial interview with a US journalist, Vladimir Putin speaks out publicly again.
He emphasizes his innocence in the Ukraine war.
Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin has already caused a stir in the West with his US interview on February 9th.
That's not all: As Russia's state news agency
tass
reports, Putin wanted to once again emphasize his role in the Ukraine war in an interview with a Russian journalist.
For Russia, the situation in Ukraine is a question of life and death.
The West, however, is less interested in the outcome of the war, the news agency quoted the president as saying on Sunday.
Putin emphasizes in new interview: Ukraine war is “a question of life and death” for Russia
The second interview took place with journalist Pavel Zarubin from Russia's State Russian Television and Radio.
In it, Putin also discussed his conversation with the right-wing US journalist Tucker Carlson, which was published at the beginning of February and which had sparked sharp criticism, particularly in the EU.
According to Putin, it was important to convey to Russian and foreign viewers how much importance Russia attaches to "everything that happens in Ukraine."
Russian President Vladimir Putin during his interview with US presenter Tucker Carlson.
© Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin Pool/IMAGO
“For [the West] it is about improving their tactical position, but for us it is about our fate, a matter of life and death,” Putin said in the interview with the Russian journalist.
“I wanted people listening to this [interview with Carlson] to realize that.
It’s not for me to judge whether it hit the mark or not.”
Putin comments again on interview with US journalists - EU rages
The interview published on Thursday was the first that Putin conducted with a Western media representative since the invasion of Ukraine.
EU representatives in particular criticized the almost two-hour conversation, which discussed the war in Ukraine and Russia's relations with the USA, NATO and the West.
The former Fox News host previously said he had tried to do an interview with the Russian leader last year but was prevented from doing so by the US government.
The interview was sharply criticized internationally.
Putin repeated “well-known lies, distortions and manipulations,” said Nabila Massrali, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, in Brussels.
US presenter Tucker Carlson was also mentioned.
According to Massrali, this “provided a platform for manipulating and spreading propaganda.”
(nz)