Russian President Vladimir Putin has been interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday. It is Putin’s first interview with a Western media figure since his massive invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Carlson had released a video from Moscow on Tuesday in which he said he would interview Putin. Carlson falsely claimed that Western journalists had interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky several times but could not be bothered to interview the Russian president.

The interview will be posted Thursday, said Justin Wells, head of programming at Carlson’s streaming network. It is not known what was said in the interview.

The interview comes amid a Russian media crackdown and the jailing of reporters

Putin has sharply limited his contact with the international media since starting the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have cracked down on the media, forcing some independent Russian outlets to close, blocking others and ordering some foreign reporters to leave the country. Two journalists working for American news organizations Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal and Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are in prison on charges they deny.

Western journalists were invited to Putin’s annual report

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conference in December, the first since the start of the war, but only two were given the opportunity to ask a question.

Why Tucker Carlson?

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Carlson was chosen for the interview because he takes a position that differs from other English-language media.

Before leaving Fox, Carlson repeatedly questioned the validity of U.S. support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, and wondered why Americans were told to hate Putin so much. His comments were widely circulated in Russian state media.

In his video this week, Carlson alleged that other American media outlets were “corrupt” and were holding fawning pep sessions with Zelensky that he said were designed to get America into and pay for a war with Eastern Europe.

Peskov also rejected Carlson’s suggestion that no Western journalists had made requests to interview Putin. He said the Kremlin has received many requests from major Western television channels and newspapers which, he claimed, take a one-sided position.

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The Associated Press is among the media that requested an interview with Putin.

Does Tucker really think that we journalists haven’t tried to interview President Putin every day since his massive invasion of Ukraine? CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said on X. It’s absurd that we keep asking for an interview, just like we have for years.

The interview with Putin, Carlson said in his video, will be distributed for free on his website and on X, formerly known as Twitter. Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in April, announced in December that he would start his own streaming service.

Fox has offered no explanation for firing Carlson, who was its highest-rated personality at the time. Like many people who leave the conservative American news outlet, he has struggled to stay in the public eye.

Response from Russian state media

Carlson worked at Fox News for more than a decade and hosted a show discussing conspiracy theories about Russia and the January 6 insurrection.

Russian state media reported extensively on Carlson’s visit on Wednesday.

Vladimir Solovyev, one of Russia’s most famous television hosts, said the interview would break the blockade and narrative in the Western media, which he said focuses on Putin’s unprovoked, brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Solovyev, whose show is often critical of Western media, said Carlson is afraid because he doesn’t buy into that narrative.