MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interview for Tucker Carlson was addressed not to US authorities, but to a wide audience of people in the West, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
In a conversation with TASS, he disclosed what exactly the Kremlin considers the main result of this interview and assessed the level of attacks on Russian IT systems during the past two years.
On millions of views
- In the first 24 hours, the interview was viewed for over 150 million times on the X platform alone. But a wide interest of the audience does not mean support, the Kremlin notes. "The most important thing for us is to make our president heard. If he is heard, then more people will wonder whether he is right or not. At least they will think."
- It is difficult for Russia to stand against the US "in terms of propaganda," because the "Anglo-Saxons own all largest broadcasters, all main newspapers in one way or another." In these circumstances, the interview for Carlson "is a very good opportunity" to convey Moscow’s position to the people.
On relations with US
- The US authorities are "well aware of Putin’s key messages" even without the interview, Peskov noted. "They are well aware of what he thinks. It is not an issue of knowledge, but an issue of desire. A desire to do something to enter the negotiations track. We see no such desire and political will [in the US] so far."
On attacks on Kremlin website, other systems
- Peskov was unable to tell if the interview sparked special attention of hackers to the Kremlin official website, where the interview was published soon after it was published on Carlson’s own resources. "There are dozens of attacks on the Kremlin website every day. Everyday throughout the year. Sometimes, there are strong DDoS attacks, and sometimes, there are attacks that aim to seize control over the website and so on. Therefore, our agencies work around the clock, ensuring proper security and integrity of the website."
- The Kremlin also finds it difficult to assess whether external attack on Russia’s IT and other systems have increased ahead of the presidential elections. "This is because the attempts to breach our various systems, both in the Internet and in other areas, have been at the maximum level for the past two years; I simply cannot differentiate if this is connected to the elections or not. They [attempts] do not stop."
Putin’s interview for Tucker Carlson was published on February 9. A significant portion of the two-hour-long conversation was dedicated to the Ukrainian conflict, Russia’s relations with the US, NATO and the West in general. Previously, the journalist said that he already tried to have an interview with Putin one year earlier, but US authorities prohibited it.