MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. The Kremlin will inform the media if Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to grant an interview to any foreign journalists, but thus far there are no such plans on the head of state’s agenda, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"As for the president's potential interviews, including with foreign media, we have nothing to tell you currently. If such plans are to be carried out, we will inform you," Peskov said in response to a question about the possibility of Putin giving an interview to popular independent US journalist Tucker Carlson, formerly affiliated with Fox News, who is now on a visit to Russia.
Carlson's arrival in Moscow and attendance at a Bolshoi Theater performance were reported on various Telegram channels at the end of last week. US media suggested that Carlson was in Moscow on an assignment to interview Putin.
Carlson's impressions and reaction to US media speculation
A video of the journalist's conversation with an unnamed reporter appeared on Monday on the Telegram channel of leading Russian newspaper Izvestia. When asked about the possibility of an interview with the Russian leader, Carlson smiled and shrugged his shoulders, saying simply: "We'll see."
The journalist reported in September 2023 that he had sought to interview Putin but had been barred from doing so by US authorities. Peskov, commenting then, noted that dozens of requests from international media outlets, including from the US, come in every day asking that Putin grant an interview. The Kremlin spokesman added that "there will definitely come a moment when such an interview will be necessary," but thus far the public in Western countries is "seriously stupefied by Russophobic propaganda" and hence would hardly be able to soberly perceive Putin's analysis of the situation and vision of the future.
The last time that Putin gave interviews to foreign journalists was in November 2023 to the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, before his visit to the Central Asian country, and prior to that in October 2023 to the China Media Corporation before his visit to China.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader has not talked to representatives of the Western press for more than two years. Putin’s most recent interview given to a Western journalist was in October 2021 when he spoke with Hadley Gamble, an Abu Dhabi-based anchorwoman for US television channel CNBC, on the sidelines of the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week forum.