MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. A member of the Russian Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (PCHR), Alexander Ionov, believes that journalist Tucker Carlson may be recognized as a foreign agent in the United States after his visit to Moscow and interview with President Vladimir Putin.

"US propaganda will use every opportunity to fan tensions that might let take Carlson to court, for example, under the law on foreign agents," the human rights activist, who heads the Russian anti-globalization movement and is accused in the United States of election interference, has told TASS.

Ionov stressed that the law on foreign agents worked differently in the United States than in Russia.

"In the US, it envisages criminal punishment for American citizens of up to 15 years in prison, depending on the charge," he explained. "All [Americans] who travel abroad today and meet with various activists find themselves in the risk zone. They are summoned for interviews at the FBI, where they are warned directly about possible reprisals against them, if they support a particular political stance that disagrees with Washington’s official policy."

Ionov said that even with him, many American activists preferred to communicate only confidentially, because they were "constantly threatened and told they will be prosecuted just for communicating."

"In the United States, the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of choice politically, religiously and otherwise, has ceased to work," Ionov added.

After reports about Carlson's trip to Russia, there followed demands in the United States for banning the journalist from returning to the country. Such calls were later criticized by US businessman Elon Musk, who owns the social network X. As Carlson himself said, Musk promised not to block the interview with Putin in this social media.

Russian human rights activist Ionov, accused by US authorities of election interference, said that the US Department of State promised a $10-million reward for information about his whereabouts. The US State Department's Twitter page also mentioned a reward for help in locating Ionov.