Tucker Carlson says he will interview Putin soon

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will be present “soon” for an interview with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host said Tuesday, a sign that the Russian leader is trying to make a direct appeal to American conservatives as U.S. aid to Ukraine is stuck. in the balance sheet.

“We are here to interview the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin,” Mr. Carlson said in an interview video apparently filmed from a high-rise in central Moscow and posted on social network X. “We will do that soon.”

The Kremlin did not immediately confirm that the interview would take place and declined to comment on the possibility when asked by journalists in recent days. Mr. Carlson has been in Moscow for several days, according to Russian state media, which provided a detailed account of his visit, raising expectations for a possible interview by Mr. Carlson with Mr. Putin.

Mr. Carlson did not specify the timing of an upcoming interview. It would be Putin's first formal interview with a Western media figure since the start of his large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and his first with an American outlet since he spoke with CNBC in 2021.

Putin's government has drastically reduced the ability of Western journalists to report on Russia, jailing The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The Kremlin has referred to Western countries as “numbed” by anti-Russian propaganda.

The interview would come at a crucial time for the war in Ukraine, with US aid to Kiev stalled in Congress. A Senate vote on a relief package Wednesday will almost certainly fail after a growing number of Republicans said they would not support it.

An interview in the Kremlin could be mutually beneficial for Mr. Carlson and Mr. Putin. Mr. Carlson lost the most prominent platform in conservative media when he was kicked out of Fox's lineup last year, while Mr. Putin lost the most prominent promoter of his anti-Ukrainian talking points in the United States.

By speaking to Mr. Carlson, Mr. Putin would likely be trying to reinforce this point and seize an opportunity: a chance to reach a potentially sympathetic audience in the United States.

Mr. Carlson, like Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, is skeptical of further U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, and has embraced Mr. Putin's efforts to position himself as a global standard-bearer for “traditional values,” such as opposition to LGBT rights.

Putin's calculation seems to be largely related to the war in Ukraine. The interview could fuel political divisions over Ukraine within the United States, especially if Putin signals openness to a negotiated end to the war. Mr. Carlson's arrival in Moscow and speculation that he was there to interview Mr. Putin drew a mix of condemnation and praise from prominent X users.

“He is a traitor,” former Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican of Illinois, wrote in a message, referring to Mr. Carlson. Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene, the Trump-aligned Georgia congresswoman, praised the news: proverb: “Democrats and their propagandists are reeling from the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin.”