The Kremlin has commented on Russian President Putin’s willingness to sit down for a long-form interview with American independent journalist Tucker Carlson. Carlson was granted the interview because his position “contrasts with that of the traditional Anglo-Saxon media,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Over the weekend, Carlson travelled to Moscow while rumours flew he may be interviewing Putin. On Tuesday, Carlson confirmed he would be sitting down with the Russian president for an interview. Though Putin receives “many” requests from foreign news outlets for a sit-down interview, he normally declines. “We receive many requests for interviews with the president,” Peskov told reporters, per South China Morning Post. “But when it comes to countries of the collective West, we are talking about large online media outlets that can’t boast of trying to at least look objective.” “These are all media outlets that take an exceptionally one-sided position. Of course, there is no desire to communicate with such media and it hardly makes sense and it is unlikely that it will be useful.” The two-hour, in-depth interview is expected to be released Thursday evening at 6 p.m. eastern time, according to the Wall Street Journal.
