Russian Defeat In Ukraine Is 'Impossible', Says Putin In Rare Interview With US Host Carlson

President Vladimir Putin has asserted that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible” and NATO must accept Moscow’s territorial gains there. “There has been the uproar and screaming about inflicting a strategic defeat to Russia on the battlefield,” Putin told US talk show host Tucker Carlson in an interview posted Thursday.

Putin defended his decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 and he added that the West now realises that Russia will not be defeated, despite help from Western countries. “In my opinion, it is impossible by definition. It is never going to happen.” This comes a day after the Kremlin confirmed that Putin has been interviewed by former Fox News host Carlson. It is Putin’s first interview with a Western media figure since the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine two years ago. Carlson earlier released a video from Moscow on Tuesday in which he said he would be interviewing Putin, who has heavily limited his contact with international media since February 2022.

During the two-hour interview released on Thursday, Carlson asked Putin if he would Russian troops to Poland. The Russian President answered that it was “out of the question” for Russia to invade Poland or Latvia. “We simply don’t have any interest” in expanding the war in Ukraine.  “Only in one case, if Poland attacks Russia,” Putin responded, adding: “We have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply don’t have any interest… It is absolutely out of the question.”

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Putin believes a deal is possible to free detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, he told Carlson. “There is no taboo to settle this issue. We are willing to solve it but there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. I believe an agreement can be reached,” Putin told Carlson when asked about Gershkovich, who was detained in March last year and accused of spying, a charge he and his employer have vehemently rejected.

Putin’s resolve on Ukraine comes as a $95.34 billion aid bill was advanced in the US Senate on Thursday after Republicans blocked compromise legislation that included a long-sought overhaul of immigration policy. The security aid bill includes $61 billion for Ukraine as it battles Russia. Supporters of Ukraine in US have been struggling for much of the past year to find a way to send more money to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

On the war front, Ukraine’s military said that Russian troops are engaged in fighting with Ukrainian forces inside the beleaguered town of Avdiivka, which has been under sustained Russian assault since mid-October. Russian forces have been trying to advance on the town, noted for its vast coking plant and seen as a gateway to the Russian-held city of Donetsk, 20 km to the east. Ukraine’s ground forces said the situation was tense across the east, with Russian troops trying to break through defences near Chasiv Yar, a town west of Bakhmut.

(With agency inputs)