Ahmad 
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interview with the famous controversial American journalist, Tucker Carlson, went viral amid unprecedented reaction to some of the Russian president’s statements. Western and international media, especially American, published excerpts from the interview, which many politicians and large segments of Western societies thirsty for news awaited by independent journalists about the situation in Ukraine and other thorny files at the global level, in light of the dominance of Western countries on the main media in the United States and Western Europe, which is in line with the policy of Washington and NATO.
The interview with the American journalist and former Fox News journalist, who is close to former US President Donald Trump, sparked widespread anger among Democratic officials in the United States. The interview on the journalist’s page, only on the “X” platform, has garnered more than 150 million views in less than 24 hours since it aired and was reposted by hundreds of thousands of followers, with media and political experts predicting that it will be the most watched interview in the world.
During the interview, Putin addressed several topics, the most important of which were the historical relationship with Ukraine and the military operation in it, the possibility of expanding the conflict towards European countries, NATO’s approach to the Russian border and relations with Western countries in general, especially with the United States, in addition to the repercussions of the crisis on the global economy.
The most important statements of the Russian president in the interview:
-Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that the United States is adapting to the trends of world development and the global economy through force, sanctions, pressure, bombing and the use of armed forces.
-Putin pointed out that the ruling elite in the United States must realize that its tools do not work, and that its actions towards Russia and other countries are counterproductive, adding that “if the idea of hegemony prevails in American society at all costs, including the use of coercive methods, the reality of the situation will not change, but will get worse.”
-he Russian president expressed confidence that “changing the US president will not directly change the attitude towards Russia, because it is not about the personality of the president, but about the mood of the American elites.”
-On the Ukrainian issue, the Russian president stressed that the Ukrainian people are part of the Russian people, noting that “if Ukraine wants to consider itself a separate people, it has the right to do so, but it has to build it not on the basis of Nazi ideology.”
-The Russian president explained that Ukraine has become a satellite state of the United States, however, Russia does not refuse to negotiate with Kiev to end the military operation.
Putin revealed that during his recent conversation with US President, Joe Biden, before the start of the special military operation, he explained to Biden that supporting what is happening in Ukraine is a mistake with historical dimensions, stressing that Moscow informed the US leadership that the conflict in Ukraine will end in a matter of weeks if Washington stops supplying Kiev with weapons.
-The Russian president went on to say that Ukraine in its current form is an artificial state created by the Soviet authorities by the will of the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin.
– The Russian president stated that the world will change in any case regardless of how the events in Ukraine end, and Putin stressed that international law must be amended, noting that the balance of power in the world has changed.
Asked by the journalist whether Putin could envisage a scenario for sending Russian troops to Poland, Putin said: “In only one case… If there is an attack on Russia by Poland.”
On Hungary’s ambitions in Ukraine, Putin said: “I have never spoken to the Hungarian leadership about this. We didn’t even have any conversations about it. But I know for sure that the Hungarians who live there, of course, want to return to their historic homeland.”
-The Russian president accused the US security services of targeting the gas pipelines “Northern Stream 1” and “Northern Stream 2”, explaining that there are parties that benefited from this work, noting that the process is complex, and that small organizations are unable to carry out the explosion in the Baltic Sea at this great depth, in reference to Western countries doing this work.
-Putin explained that Germany is not resuming operation of the remaining line of “Northern Stream 2” pipelines, despite the readiness of the of Russia’s readiness to supply Europe with gas through it.
– Putin continued to say with regard to the economy, that the share of the countries of the “BRICS” group, which Russia chairs this year, has exceeded in the global economy the total rate of the Group of Seven, and stressed that the “BRICS” is developing at a rapid pace.
-The Russian president said that the biggest strategic mistake of the political leadership in the United States is the use of the dollar as a tool of conflict in foreign policy. Putin stressed that dollar reserves are declining even among US allies, explaining: “Even among US allies, dollar reserves are shrinking, and everyone is looking at what is happening, and they start looking for an opportunity to protect themselves. The U.S. implementation of restrictive measures against certain countries, such as limiting payments, freezing assets, etc., is a big alarm and a signal to the whole world.”
-In response to the American journalist about Washington’s fear of Moscow, which regained its strength after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian president expressed his conviction that the West fears an economically strong China more than a strong Russia, explaining that there are 150 million people in Russia, while in China one and a half billion people, indicating that the Chinese economy is developing by more than 5%.
The impact of the interview on public opinion
Observers believe that the Russian president reaffirmed his country’s foreign policy, especially with regard to the United States, but this time, Putin addressed them through their language by interviewing a famous American journalist, which was widely broadcast in the United States and abroad.
It appears from the Russian president’s statements that Moscow is proceeding with the military operation in Ukraine until the goals are achieved, although Putin suggested the possibility of communicating with Kiev to end the military operation.
Economic observers say that Putin has defined the features of the economic policy of Russia and the BRICS countries and did not rule out the possibility of resuming gas pumping to the European continent, taking into account the changes that have occurred in the international arena, especially with regard to dealing in national currencies instead of the dollar in commercial operations.
The American journalist’s interview with Putin sparked a fierce debate in the United States, and there is a debate about what to do with journalist Tucker Carlson, who according to analysts broke the postulates of US policy towards Russia. A number of experts do not rule out serious charges against the journalist.
The Biden administration fears the impact of the interview on large segments of American society, according to political analysts, and indeed, the White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby came out by saying that the interview conducted by Russian President Vladimir Putin with American journalist Tucker Carlson will not affect US support for Ukraine. Democrats believe that the journalist Carlson, who supports Donald Trump, went on a very specific mission to Moscow to annoy Trump’s Democratic opponents, especially since the United States is on the verge of a presidential election, and the interview may be a hidden media support for Trump.
Former officials in the US administration even attacked the journalist, accusing him of supporting the Russian president, and expressing her anger by directing bad words to the journalist, and even calling him a puppy. Although officials downplayed the interview in its impact on Western public opinion, former officials said the interview would change a lot. Brett Brown, a former White House adviser during the Obama administration, predicted that there would be a bad political impact from this interview, explaining that Putin was able to address the millions of people who follow Tucker Carlson and show them the Russian position on events around the world, especially Ukraine. Western-dominated media and officials considered Carlson to be part of the “fifth column,” while hundreds of thousands of comments from followers around the world welcomed the interview and thanked the journalist and the Russian president for what they described as a truth absent from the global public, questioning the US president’s ability to hold such a dialogue, lasting more than two hours.