Putin urges US to push Ukraine to talks, hints at possible swap of imprisoned WSJ reporter
Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to induce Washington to acknowledge Moscow’s pursuits and persuade Ukraine to sit down down for talks.
Putin additionally stated that Russia stands prepared to barter a possible prisoner change that might free Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained final March on espionage fees he denies, and hinted that Moscow needs the discharge of its agent imprisoned in Germany.
Most of the interview, launched Thursday, centered on Ukraine, the place the battle is nearing the two-year mark. Putin repeated his declare that his invasion of Ukraine, which Kyiv and its allies described as an unprovoked act of aggression, was crucial to guard Russian audio system in Ukraine and stop the nation from posing a risk to Russia by becoming a member of NATO.
Putin pointed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s refusal to conduct talks with the Kremlin. He argued that it’s as much as Washington to cease supplying Ukraine with weapons and persuade Kyiv, which he referred to as a U.S. “satellite,” to sit down down for negotiations.
“We have never refused negotiations,” Putin stated. “You should tell the current Ukrainian leadership to stop and come to a negotiating table.”
Putin warned that the West won’t ever reach inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Ukraine and rejected allegations that Russia was harboring plans to assault Poland or different NATO international locations.
It was Putin’s first interview with a Western media determine since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years in the past.
White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby tried to reduce the influence of Carlson’s interview forward of its launch: “Remember, you’re listening to Vladimir Putin. And you shouldn’t take at face value anything he has to say.”
Putin has closely restricted his contact with worldwide media since he launched the battle in Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have cracked down on impartial media, forcing some Russian shops to shut, blocking others and ordering a variety of international reporters to depart the nation. Two journalists working for U.S. news organizations — The Wall Street Journal’s Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are in jail.
Asked by Carlson whether or not Russia would launch Gershkovich, Putin stated Moscow is open to talks however repeated that the reporter was charged with espionage, an accusation Gershkovich has denied.
“He was caught red-handed when he was secretly getting classified information,” Putin stated of Gershkovich, including that he doesn’t exclude that the reporter may return house.
“There is no taboo on settling this issue,” Putin stated. “We are ready to solve it but there are certain conditions that are being discussed between special services. I believe an agreement can be reached.”
He pointed to a person imprisoned in a “U.S.-allied country” for “liquidating a bandit” who killed Russian troopers in the course of the combating within the Caucasus: “He put our soldiers taken prisoners on a road and then drove a car over their heads. There was a patriot who liquidated him in one of the European capitals.”
Putin didn’t point out names, however he appeared to seek advice from Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany after being convicted of the 2019 brazen daylight killing of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity.
German judges who convicted Krasikov stated he had acted on the orders of Russian federal authorities, who offered him with a false identification, a pretend passport and the assets to hold out the hit.
The Wall Street Journal reaffirmed in an announcement that Gershkovich “is a journalist, and journalism is not a crime,” including that “any portrayal to the contrary is total fiction.” “We’re encouraged to see Russia’s desire for a deal that brings Evan home, and we hope this will lead to his rapid release and return to his family and our newsroom,” it stated.
The Associated Press
