In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to Ukraine as a “satellite state of the U.S.”
He expressed willingness to negotiate with Ukraine but suggested that Ukraine’s decisions are influenced by Washington.
“Are you worried that what’s happening in Ukraine could lead to something much larger and much more horrible? And how motivated are you to call the U.S. government and say, ‘Let’s come to terms’?” Carlson asked.
Ep. 73 The Vladimir Putin Interview pic.twitter.com/67YuZRkfLL
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 8, 2024
“Ukraine is obviously a satellite state of the U.S. It is evident,” Putin said.
“I already said that we did not refuse to talk. We’re willing to negotiate,” Putin said. “It is the Western side – and Ukraine is obviously a satellite state of the U.S. It is evident.”
“Of course, they’re a satellite. Big countries control small countries. That’s not new,” Carlson said.
“And that’s why I asked about dealing directly with the Biden administration, which is making these decisions, not President [Volodymyr] Zelensky of Ukraine,” he added.
“If the Zelensky administration in Ukraine refused to negotiate, I assume they did it under the instruction from Washington,” Putin said.
“If Washington believes it to be the wrong decision, let it abandon it,” he added. “It was not us who made this decision. It was them. So let them go back on it. That is it.”
“You want a negotiated settlement to what’s happening in Ukraine?” Carlson asked.
“Right,” Putin said. “And we made it. We prepared a huge document in Istanbul that was initialed by the head of the Ukrainian delegation.”
“He affixed his signature to some of the provisions — not to all of it — he put his signature, and then, he himself said, ‘We were ready to sign it, and the war would have been over long ago, 18 months ago. However, Prime Minister Johnson came, talked us out of it, and we missed that chance,’” the President added.
Putin also mentioned a missed opportunity for a negotiated settlement in Ukraine, claiming that Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked Ukraine out of signing a peace agreement.
The President repeated a Russian claim that Johnson instructed Ukraine to tear up an advanced peace negotiation, a claim Ukraine has denied.
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