Vladimir Putin pinpoints exact moment he decided to invade Ukraine in new interview | World | News
Vladimir Putin revealed his latest thoughts on the Ukraine war during a bombshell two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson on Thursday night.
Putin responded to Carlson’s question about the Ukraine war by saying, “I understand that my long speeches probably fall outside of the genre of the interview. That is why I asked you at the beginning, are we going to have a serious talk or a show?”
The Russian president started off the interview by giving Carlson “historical background” of the conflict in the region, outlining a historical basis for Russia‘s claims on Ukraine and denying the Slavic state’s independence.
The opening of the interview began with Putin lecturing Carlson for more than 30 minutes about the history of Russia, dating back to the founding of the Russian state in 862, to the eighteenth century rule of Caterina the great, to the 1917 Bolshevik overthrow of Tsar Nicolas II, and to the founding of the Soviet Union under Lenin.
When he decided to invade Ukraine, Putin claimed that it was initially triggered by “the coup in Ukraine” backed by the CIA, referencing the Maidan Uprising in which pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to resign amid pro-democracy protests in 2014.
He said: “Why the coup? Why the victims? Why threaten Crimea? Why launch an operation in Donbas? This I do not understand. That is exactly what the miscalculation is. CIA did its job to complete the coup.”
