Kremlin corrects Tucker Carlson’s false claim that no Western journalists tried to interview Putin

The Kremlin has slapped down a claim by far-right influencer Tucker Carlson that no Western journalists have tried to interview Russian president Vladimir Putin about his invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Carlson accused the Western media of engaging in “fawning pep sessions” with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he has previously called a “dictator” and likened to a rat, while confidently asserting that “not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict: Vladimir Putin”.

The former Fox News commentator, who has heaped effusive praise on Mr Putin for years, made the false claim in a video posted on Tuesday to promote his interview with the Russian leader, which has reportedly already been filmed but not yet posted online.

“Mr Carlson is not correct. In fact, there’s no way he could know this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Mr Peskov went on to say that the Kremlin receives “numerous requests” for interviews from Western media, which are all denied because the Kremlin does not deem the media outlets impartial.

“His position is different from the others… it is pro-American, but at least it contrasts with the position of the traditional Anglo-Saxon media," Mr Peskov added.

Mr Carlson was also fact-checked by dozens of journalists who report on and live in Russia.

“Does Tucker really think we journalists haven’t been trying to interview President Putin every day since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine? It’s absurd – we’ll continue to ask for an interview, just as we have for years now,” said CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

The BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, wrote on X: “Interesting to hear@TuckerCarlson claim that ‘no western