Vladimir Putin has taken aim at US President Joe Biden during his two-hour long interview with television host Tucker Carlson.
The bombshell discussion contained a staggering series of claims and revelations, including Putin suggesting a deal can be reached to release US reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since March.
US relations became a hot topic of discussion during the interview, with Carlson asking whether Putin has been in contact with Biden since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin said that while he has not spoken to Biden directly, “certain contacts are being maintained”.
Vladimir Putin has mocked Joe Biden
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He added that Russia had even devised a plan for a missile defence system that would have involved working with the US.
But the Russian President couldn’t resist a swipe at his counterpart as he addressed the US supply of weapons to Ukraine.
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“Why would I call him? What should I talk to him about? Or beg him for what?”, he asked.
“You’re going to deliver weapons to Ukraine? Oh I’m afraid, I’m afraid”, he added in a sarcastic remark.
The US is by far the largest contributor of arms to Ukraine and committed to another tranche of aid worth some $250m (£195m) in December.
The package includes air defence, artillery and small arms ammunition and anti-tank weapons, according to US officials.
Tucker Carlson has been criticised for his interview with Putin
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Putin told Carlson that the US “needs to stop supplying weapons” to Ukraine, adding Western countries will never be able to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
“If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons”, he said.
“It will be over within a few weeks.”
Putin said the last time he spoke to Biden was before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Putin speaking to Tucker Carlson
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Putin wants Biden to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons
POOL“I said to him, then, I believe you are making a huge mistake of historic proportions by supporting everything that is happening there, in Ukraine, by pushing Russia away”, he said.
In a video published ahead of the interview, Carlson claimed he was conducting the interview because English-language “media outlets are corrupt - they lie to their readers and viewers”.
The former Fox News host has been widely critical of US support for Ukraine and criticised a perceived lack of coverage of the Russian perspective.
“Not a single Western journalist has bothered”, he said when discussing attempts to interview Putin.
Carlson’s claim has since been debunked by the Kremlin, who said his assertion was “wrong”.
“We receive many requests for interviews with the President”, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among those to criticise Carlson, claiming he is a “useful idiot” for Putin.
She told MSNBC: “He parrots Putin’s pack of lies about Ukraine, so I don’t see why Putin wouldn’t give him an interview because through him, he can continue to lie about what his objectives are in Ukraine and what he expects to see happen.”