Putin claims that Russia cannot be defeated in Ukraine war

• President Putin discusses the impossibility of defeating Russia in Ukraine in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
• He urges the US Congress to stop supporting Ukraine with weapons and other military aid.
• Putin anticipates little change in leadership after the US election.

In an interview released Thursday, President Vladimir Putin told controversial right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson that the West should understand “it is impossible” to defeat Russia in Ukraine. During the two-hour interview with the former Fox News host, Putin also stated that a deal “can be reached” on imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, just ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Certain terms are being discussed via special services channels,” he said while insisting that the reporter is a spy — something the Journal and US government vehemently deny.

It marked the first one-on-one interview of Putin by someone from the Western media since 2019. However, Carlson, who is close to White House candidate and former president Donald Trump, posed few tough questions and mainly listened as the Kremlin leader lectured him on his views of Russian history, portraying the country as a victim of Western betrayals.

NATO assistance:

Putin defended his decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022. He stated that the West now acknowledges that Russia will not be defeated, despite US, European, and NATO assistance to Ukraine.

“Up until now, there has been the uproar and screaming about inflicting a strategic defeat to Russia on the battlefield. But now they are coming to realize that it is difficult to achieve, if possible, at all. “I believe it is impossible by definition,” he said.

He also directed a message at the US Congress, where Republicans, dominated by Trump, are increasingly reluctant to continue supporting Ukraine with weapons and other military aid.

“I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership. If you want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons,” he said.

When asked if Moscow would consider invading other countries in the region — NATO members Poland and Latvia — or generally across the European continent, Putin said that was “out of the question.”

“We have no interest in Poland, Latvia, or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply don’t have any interest. It’s just threat-mongering,” Putin said.

A war with Poland, he said, would happen “only in one case: if Poland attacks Russia.”

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