If you didn't see the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin, I recommend you do that over the weekend. From a western point of view it was an unorthodox, lengthy talk lasting two hours, with Putin doing most of the talking, while it was clearly not scripted in any sense. Right at the start, Putin wanted to know whether they were going to have an intelligent conversation, or a 'Talkshow'-thing. Critics will say he was allowed to 'lecture', and he did. If you managed to read all of my contributions to this blog, there won't be too many surprises in what he said. Which includes references to what is considered 'ancient history', going back to the roots of 'Kievan Rus', as he tried to explain why the bulk of the Ukrainian people, and the Russians, are one people, with some Hungarians and Romanians in parts of the country which used to be Hungarian and Romanian before the war. Even illustrating his point with a personal story as he went on a road-trip to Ukraine in the eighties, coming across people in traditional Hungarian costume, speaking Hungarian, in Ukraine.
Putin's intelligence and knowledge on the subject matter stood out. Against the backdrop of the news this morning, that Joe Biden was acquitted of taking classified documents, keeping them in his garage, unprotected, since he is suffering from severe memory loss, and couldn't even recall when he used to be vice-president, Tucker suggesting that Putin should pick up the phone to talk to Biden about settling this conflict in Ukraine is a moot point. Moreover, as Putin illustrated with several fine examples, the president of the USA is not the one deciding on anything. He refused to list people in power or influential positions, but offered that people who grew up in the 'Cold War', entering government service, never came around to accepting that those days are over. I second that. All the 'Think Tankers', and some military people, are breathing hostility.
Though Putin didn't reveal anything about his military goals as the war progresses, with Ukraine suffering badly as Zelensky finally got rid of Zalushny, for the moment, replacing him by general Oleksandr Syrskyi, who's parents live in Russia, ironically, he ended the interview with the upbeat prediction that the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russia will eventually reconcile their differences. To me it is obvious that Putin doesn't want to take all of Ukraine, let alone other nations. Although he did say that if Poland would strike at Russia, that it would strike back without thinking twice. Which is important, considering rumours of allowing NATO F-16's donated to Ukraine to operate from airfields in NATO countries.
Over all Putin presented himself well, and he was relaxed, though obviously concerned about where NATO was heading with this. He felt that NATO was looking for a way out, but couldn't find the key, which they allowed Boris Johnson to throw away when he told Zelensky to stay in the fight for an assured win. He also reflected on the question of why Germany, and may I add Holland, are falling into the same trap, allowing this war to strangle their economy. Accepting the destruction of Northstream, by the US, and refusing to accept natural gas from Russia, still thinking it will hurt Russia more than it will hurt them, apparently.
NATO-aligned journalists wouldn't have allowed Putin to tell his side of the story, obviously. In 'Talkshow'-format they would have unloaded about accusations of human rights violations, taking on the role of inquisitor, looking to score cheap points after being briefed by NATO. Putin told Carlson that it was utterly useless to engage the NATO-countries in a propaganda-war, since even the bulk of all the revenues in news-media in Europe is going to the US, and all these corporations are subordinate to the people calling the shots in Washington, if you allow me to 'translate' his words into less diplomatic text.
Twice Putin said that if 'Washington' would stop sending weapons, the war would be over in a matter of weeks. Well, by the looks of it, there will not be more money for more weapons coming from the US anytime soon, although the 'hard-line' European countries are doing their utmost to fan the flames. Avdeevka looks like it is collapsing, with the only question remaining being how many more Ukrainians will have to die? I cannot see how Syrskyi, who was the lead-general in 2014, fighting his own people in the Donbas, and getting his ass whipped at Debaltseve, is going to save the day for Zelensky.
The interview ended with a serious attempt by Carlson to take Evan Gershkovitch, a Wall Street journalist held in Russia on charges of spying, with him, because Gershkovitch was 'just a kid'. Putin responded that negotiations were underway between security services, and that Gershkovitch had been caught redhanded accepting classified information in a secret operation, and therefore he was a spy. Clearly, the US has been using journalists for this purpose in numerous, well documented cases, and all those who are portraying this as an innocent journalist caught in a set-up should raise their voices to free Assange. Gershkovitch will return home eventually, but not on the same plane as Carlson.