Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with American media personality Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine’s Volodymyr Putin, who took part in a standing ovation for veterans of the Nazi forces of World War II during a visit to Canada. He blamed President Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy addressed parliament during his visit in September. He was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and thanked by then-Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota.
In his remarks, Rota recognized Yaroslav Hunka from the horse and praised the Ukrainian-Canadian who fought against the Russians during World War II. Zelenskiy, Trudeau and other members of the House of Commons stood and applauded Hunka.
Later media reports revealed that the Hunka fought with the Waffen-SS Galician Division (SS 14th Waffen Division, sometimes also known as the 1st Ukrainian Division). This unit was composed of Ukrainian volunteers from Galicia and was under Nazi command.
“The president of Ukraine stood up with the entire Canadian parliament and praised this man. How can you imagine this?” Putin told Carlson through an interpreter. Carlson posted an interview on X (formerly Twitter).
Although historians say the men joined the troops for a purpose; various reasons The incident was a major diplomatic embarrassment for Canada, including its desire to fight for Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union.
President Putin has repeatedly claimed that he is waging war on Ukraine in order to “denazify” it. I jumped on Hunka’s case. To justify his past claims.
Western allies, including Canada, have consistently pushed back against these claims, calling Russia’s full-scale invasion a blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
During the interview, Putin suggested that the Hunka incident was being “silenced in the West,” despite extensive media coverage of the incident last fall.
The Russian president has significantly restricted his contacts with international media since launching full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Western journalists were invited to President Putin’s annual news conference in December, the first since the war began, but only two were given the opportunity to ask questions.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Karlsson was chosen for the interview because he has a “different position” from other English-language media outlets.
Before leaving Fox News, Carlson repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of U.S. aid to Ukraine after the Russian invasion and speculated about why Americans are said to hate President Putin so much. His commentary was frequently circulated in Russian state media.
Carlson’s visit comes amid deepening rifts within the Republican Party over President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, aligning himself with former U.S. President Donald Trump. President Trump has pushed to cut aid to Ukraine, and the Republican majority that controls the House of Representatives has so far responded.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the United States has sent more than $110 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Putin’s position on widespread war in Europe
Speaking in Russian with his words dubbed into English, Putin spoke at length about Russia’s relations with Ukraine, Poland and other countries during the more than two-hour interview.
He said he had no interest in expanding the war in Ukraine to other countries, such as Poland or Latvia.
He was asked if he could imagine a scenario in which Russian troops were sent to Poland, a NATO member. Putin said: “Poland will attack Russia only once. Why? Because we have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We have no interest at all.” ” he answered.
Putin, who is seeking a fifth term as president in this year’s election, said Western leaders had realized that they could not inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and were thinking about what to do next.
“We are ready for this dialogue,” he said.
Putin spent a good part of the interview complaining that Ukraine had tried to reach a deal to end hostilities at talks in Istanbul in April 2022, but backed down when Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv suburbs. He said that he spent the money on this.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to step up attacks on Ukraine after the heaviest airstrikes of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Western allies about air defense and supplies.
“Now let them think of ways to reverse the situation,” he said. “We are not against it. It would be strange if it were not so sad…Endless mobilization in Ukraine, hysteria, internal problems, sooner or later an agreement will be reached.”
The Russian leader said the United States has pressing domestic issues to worry about.
“Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate with Russia? We should make an agreement. We already understand the situation that is unfolding today, and we recognize that Russia will fight to the end for its interests,” Putin said. “There is,” he said.
The US government has made clear it has no interest in negotiating on Putin’s terms.
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Possible release of US journalist
President Putin told Carlson that it might be possible to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch, who is awaiting trial on espionage charges, in exchange for a Russian prisoner.
He said special agencies from Russia and the United States were discussing the matter and some progress had been made.
In return, the Russian president has indicated he wants Germany to release Vadim Krasikov, the man convicted of killing a Chechen dissident in Berlin in 2019.
Mr. Gershkovych was arrested on March 29, 2023 in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals region and charged with attempting to obtain state secrets. He and his newspaper have strongly denied the charges, and the U.S. government has found him to be wrongfully detained.
Russia and the United States have agreed to high-profile prisoner swaps in the past, most recently in December 2022, when Russia transferred US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was convicted of drug crimes, to a Russian arms trafficker. He was traded for Victor Bout.
Putin did not mention Krasikov by name, but instead referred to someone who “out of patriotic sentiments eliminated bandits in one of Europe’s capitals.”
Last month, a Moscow court extended Gershkovych’s detention for two months. Putin said the reporter was “obtaining top secret information and he was caught red-handed.”
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President Vladimir Putin is officially seeking a fifth term in office ahead of next spring’s general election in Russia, cementing his hold on power until at least 2030. Putin will be re-elected in March in a race where the winner is almost certain, but what could he stand to lose in the process? Correction (December 14, 2023): A previous version of this video incorrectly stated that Dmitry Medvedev is the current Prime Minister of Russia at 3 minutes and 56 seconds. In fact, he served in that role until his 2020. The video has been edited to remove this part.
