In a rare interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West has come to realise that Russia will not be defeated on the battlefield. He added that Russia has no interest in expanding its war in Ukraine to other countries.
The interview aired on Thursday, which many view as Putin's outreach to the Donald Trump-led GOP, is also his first with a Western media outlet since the start of his full-scale war in Ukraine and his first with an American one since 2021.
The President said Russia will fight for its interests "to the end". He spoke in Russian and his remarks were dubbed into English.
Putin began with lengthy remarks about Russia's relations with Ukraine, Poland and other countries. On whether he could imagine a scenario in which he would send Russian troops to Poland, a NATO member, Putin replied: "Only in one case, if Poland attacks Russia. Why? Because we have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply don't have any interest."
He added that Western leaders had come to realise it was impossible to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and were wondering what to do next. "If so, if the realisation has set in, they have to think what to do next. We are ready for this dialogue," Putin said.
On whether NATO could accept Russian control over parts of Ukraine, Putin said: "Let them think how to do it with dignity. There are options if there is a will."
The Russian President also blamed former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for stopping Ukraine from agreeing to a deal to end the hostilities at a talk held in Istanbul in April 2022. Putin said Ukraine was on the verge of agreeing to the deal but backed away once Russian troops withdrew from near Kyiv. "The fact that they [Ukraine] obey the demand or persuasion of Mr Johnson, the former prime minister of Great Britain, seems ridiculous," Putin said.
"Because as Mr Arahamiya put it, we could have stopped those hostilities with war a year and a half ago already. But the British persuaded us and we refused this. Where is Mr Johnson now? And the war continues."
"Well now let them think how to reverse the situation," he said. "We're not against it. It would be funny if it were not so sad that. This endless mobilisation in Ukraine, the hysteria, the domestic problems, sooner or later it will result in an agreement."
On Carlson's question about the possibility of American soldiers fighting in Ukraine, Putin retorted: "Don’t you have anything better to do?. You have issues on the border, issues with migration, issues with the national debt. Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Russia?"
He added that Russia and the US still speak "through various agencies" about ending the conflict. On Russia’s message to the US, Putin said: "If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks."
The interview garnered a lot of controversy even before its airing after the Kremlin said Putin agreed to the Carlson interview because the approach of the former Fox News host differed from the reporting of the Ukraine conflict by many Western news outlets. Carlson is considered to have close connections to Trump, who is expected to be the Republican Party candidate in the November U.S. presidential election.
Analysts also believe Putin used the interview as a platform to air his views on a wide range of subjects, including the war, to a global audience.
Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told The New York Post that the interview underscores Putin’s "tactical confidence" as his adversaries embattle difficulties, including on the battlefield. Aid from the US is stalled, a possible ascend of Trump to the Presidency and Ukraine's struggle on the battlefield.
"That confluence of circumstances means that the interview with Carlson comes as Putin senses his finest hour," said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. The Russian President now aims at securing a peace deal in Ukraine that would cement Russia’s control of the territory it has already captured and install a friendly government in Kyiv.
