Russian President Vladimir Putin questions from U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson. The key topics were Russia's relations with the United States and NATO, cooperation with China and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
Russia-U.S. relations
Speaking about why Russian-U.S. relations have deteriorated sharply under the presidency of Joe Biden, especially compared to how things were under his predecessor Donald Trump, Putin emphasized that he had repeatedly warned the incumbent U.S. President that by pushing Russia away, he was committing "a huge mistake of historical proportions."
He further noted that despite the fact that the presidents currently do not communicate directly, they have contacts through various agencies.
Who blew up Nord Stream?
The President emphasized that Moscow decided not to advertise the data of its investigation, as in the war of propaganda it is very difficult to defeat the U.S. According to Putin, this is not necessary, since the everyone knows the truth.
"So it is possible to get involved in this work, but it is cost prohibitive, so to speak.' It is clear to the whole world what happened then," Vladimir Putin said.
Russia-NATO relations
Touching upon the topic of Russia's intention to join NATO, Putin noted that, indeed, such an offer to the alliance was made by Moscow. According to Putin, the Russian authorities offered American partners within NATO jointly create a missile defense system. Moreover, agreement was reached at the highest level, but the U.S. administrations refused to move to such close cooperation with the Russian side.
“But our proposal was declined. <...> And we created hypersonic systems, with intercontinental range, and we continue to develop them,” Vladimir Putin said.
Russia-China cooperation
Putin noted that China is currently one of the most important Russia's partners. In particular, areas of cooperation in the field of high-tech and energy are developing dynamically.
In this regard, the Russian leader noted that partnership with Beijing is beneficial to both sides, and the opinion that “China is boog” is nothing more than a boogeyman story.
The president further pointed out that European countries cooperate with China even more closely than the Russian Federation. Putin also noted that Western countries fear a strong China even more than a strong Russia.
Russia-Ukraine relations
Touching upon one of the most important foreign policy issues - the Ukrainian crisis - Vladimir Putin emphasized that sooner or later Moscow and Kiev will come to an agreement.
“Sooner or later it all will result in an agreement. <...> This will probably sound strange given the current situation but the relations between the two peoples will be rebuilt anyway," Vladimir Putin said.
