Russian President Vladimir Putin has provided insights into his latest perspectives on the Ukraine war during a significant two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson on Thursday night.
The interview, which captured global attention, offered viewers a rare glimpse into Putin’s thoughts and intentions regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Putin responded to American conservative pundit Tucker Carlson’s question about the Ukraine war by saying, “I understand that my long speeches probably fall outside of the genre of the interview. That is why I asked you at the beginning, are we going to have a serious talk or a show?”
In a bombshell two-hour interview with American conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, Vladimir Putin revealed his thoughts on the Ukraine war, including the pivotal moment he decided to launch the invasion.
Putin, known for his assertive rhetoric, provided historical context to the conflict, tracing back to the foundation of Russia in 862 and highlighting key events such as the Bolshevik revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union. He particularly emphasized Russia’s historical ties to Ukraine and disputed its independence.
The Russian president pointed to the Maidan Uprising in 2014, which resulted in the ousting of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, as a catalyst for his decision to invade Ukraine. Putin alleged CIA involvement in the uprising, characterizing it as a coup and citing it as justification for Russian intervention.
He said: “Why the coup? Why the victims? Why threaten Crimea? Why launch an operation in Donbas? This I do not understand. That is exactly what the miscalculation is. CIA did its job to complete the coup.”
“It was they who started the war in 2014. Our goal is to stop this war. And we did not start this war in 2022. This is an attempt to stop it,” Putin insisted.
When asked whether Russia have achieved its aims, Putin responded “no,” saying that one of its aims that has yet to be achieved was Ukraine’s “de-Nazification”.
His aim to “denazify” the country, citing World War II, has long served as a justification for his invasion.
He also accused the US-led Western coalition such as Germany and France, of prolonging the conflict, saying that peace talks – referring to the Minsk agreements that sought to end the 2014 conflict between Ukraine and Russian separatist groups in the Donbas region – with Ukraine were “almost finalized.”
“But after we withdrew our troops from Kyiv, as I have already said, the other side threw away all these agreements and obeyed the instructions of Western countries, European countries and the United States to fight Russia to the bitter end.”
Between October and November 2021, Russia initiated a significant buildup of troops and military assets along its border with Ukraine, marking a concerning escalation in tensions in the region.
The buildup continued in the subsequent months, with additional forces deployed to Belarus, purportedly for joint exercises with Belarusian counterparts. Moreover, Russian troops were dispatched to the Russian-backed separatist enclave of Transdniestria in Moldova and to Russian-occupied Crimea.
By February 2022, Western defense analysts estimated that the number of Russian troops encircling Ukraine had reached staggering levels, with figures reaching as high as 190,000. This substantial military presence raised alarm bells among analysts, who warned of the imminent possibility of a Russian incursion into Ukraine.
The buildup of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border and in neighboring territories heightened concerns about the potential for further conflict in the region.