Vladimir Putin’s interview with Western journalists: when and with whom did the president speak?

February 7, press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov confirmedthat American journalist Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin. Which other representatives of the American and European media have previously managed to communicate with the Russian president – in the Kommersant information.

First interview recently elected Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a foreign journalist September 8, 2000 in NYC. During his visit to the Millennium Summit, he spoke with CNN anchor Larry King. When asked what happened to the Russian submarine Kursk, the head of state replied: “It drowned.” They also talked about the election situation in the United States, Mr. Putin’s work in the KGB, the situation in the North Caucasus, etc. Ten years later, December 1, 2010 Vladimir Putin, while serving as Prime Minister, again gave an interview to Larry King on the Moscow-Los Angeles teleconference. Mr. Putin spoke about the future of the START Treaty, democracy in the Russian Federation and the United States, WikiLeaks publications, the DPRK and his family.

December 21, 2007 an issue of the American magazine was published Time, in which Vladimir Putin was named “person of the year” for his “exceptional skill in leading the country.” Weekly published interview with the Russian president, in which the head of state outlined his vision of relations between Russia and the West. The conversation took place 12 December at the Novo-Ogarevo residence.

While serving as president, Vladimir Putin twice gave interviews to a German television and radio company. ARD. April 2, 2013 conversation with a journalist Jörg Schönenbor took place in Novo-Ogarevo on the eve of the Russian President’s working visit to Germany. Then the conversation was about the internal political situation in Russia, security in the world and economic problems, including the financial situation in Europe. November 13, 2014 Mr. Putin in Vladivostok answered questions ARD representative Hubert Seipel, including about Crimea, sanctions and Ukraine.

June 3, 2014, before traveling to France to participate in events marking the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, Vladimir Putin, while in Sochi, gave interview author and presenter of radio station news programs “Europe 1” to Jean-Pierre Elkabah and host of the channel’s evening newscast TF1 to Gilles Boulot. Among the topics that interested French journalists were questions about Crimea, the situation in Ukraine, Russia’s relations with Western countries and sanctions against the Russian Federation.

The Russian president spoke twice with representatives of the largest Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. At first June 2015, before traveling to Italy on the occasion of Russia Day at Expo, during conversation with the director of the publication Luciano Fontana and journalist Paolo Valentino Vladimir Putin called the Minsk agreements the only way to resolve the crisis in Donbass. Second interview took place four years later – in July 2019, again on the eve of an official visit to Italy. The head of state touched upon issues of international security and sanctions against the Russian Federation, and also spoke about his friendship with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

July 25, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin gave interview Swiss media immediately after the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying round. They also talked about the upcoming championship and the corruption scandal in FIFA. The head of state also drew attention to the US imperial policy and advised Europe to be more independent.

September 20, 2015 on the eve of participation in the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Vladimir Putin met with an American journalist Charlie Rose. Interview for TV channels CBS and PBS took place at the residence in Novo-Ogarevo. The President talked about the role of the Americans in the coup in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the current state of the UN.

January 5, 2016 at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi Vladimir Putin Meets with the editor-in-chief of a German newspaper Bild by Kai Dieckmann and his deputy Nikolaus Blome. In addition to talking about Russian-German relations, in an interview the president noted that NATO expansion to the east was a mistake and “did not allow us to overcome the division of Europe,” and also explained the reasons why the residents of Crimea expressed a desire to join Russia.

September 1, 2016 in Vladivostok the president gave interview Bloomberg. During a conversation with the chief editor of the holding John Micklethwaite Vladimir Putin spoke about relations with Japan, Turkey and the EU, and also allowed the conclusion of an agreement with the United States to combat terrorism in Syria.

May 29, 2017 Vladimir Putin visited France and held his first meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, after which he gave interview newspaper Le Figaro. The Russian leader called on the West to “stop inventing mythical Russian threats” and focus on the fight against terrorism. He stressed that Russia has never interfered in other people’s elections, and the conflict in Ukraine was caused by an unconstitutional seizure of power in 2014. Vladimir Putin also rejected accusations against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons.

An American journalist spoke with the Russian president twice Megyn Kelly. First — on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2017. A second time interview was recorded March 1–2, 2018 in the Kremlin and in Kaliningrad, during which Vladimir Putin made a remark to his interlocutor: “You interrupt me all the time.” Leading both times NBC News focused on issues of US-Russian relations and accusations of interference in the US presidential election.

The next time Vladimir Putin spoke with a representative of the American media was three years later. Interview with a journalist NBC News Kier Simmons took place June 11, 2021 in the Kremlin and was timed to coincide with the first personal meeting of Vladimir Putin with American leader Joe Biden on June 16 in Geneva. The interview lasted about an hour and a half and was remembered for the active debate between the interlocutors. “You are shutting me up,” the president said when asked about foreign agents.

In 2016 Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the American director Oliver Stone for the film “Ukraine on Fire”, and in 2017 On the American television channel Showtime, Stone’s four-part documentary film “The Putin Interviews” was shown. The Russian leader spoke about his family, wealth, sports, Russia-US relations, and the 2018 presidential election. In Russia, the film was released under the title “Putin” on Channel One. In June 2019 Mr. Stone conducted another interview with the President of Russia for the documentary “In the Fight for Ukraine.” During the conversation, the Russian leader spoke about the Ukrainian authorities, including commenting on the incident in the Kerch Strait.

In June 2018 Vladimir Putin, before his first working trip to Austria after his re-election, gave interview journalist for a local television and radio company ORF to Armin Wolf. Mr. Wolf asked the Russian leader about Yevgeny Prigozhin and the “troll factory,” Alexei Navalny, the situation in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and relations between North Korea and the United States.

American TV channel host Fox News Chris Wallace took interview Vladimir Putin at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki July 16, 2018 after the Russian leader’s meeting with US President Donald Trump. It was subsequently nominated for a Television Emmy Award in the Live Interview category. The conversation focused on the results of the summit, nuclear arms control, the North Korean problem and other global issues.

At the end of June 2019, on the eve of the G20 summit in Osaka, the Russian president gave interview British newspaper The Financial Times (FT). Vladimir Putin told the FT editor-in-chief Lionel Barber and head of the Moscow bureau Henry Foy about the upcoming G20 meeting, the campaign in Syria, Russian-Chinese relations, the reasons for Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the situation surrounding the investigation into the Skripal poisoning in the UK and his view of liberal values.

October 13, 2021 of the year after his speech at Russian Energy Week Vladimir Putin talked with an American TV channel journalist CNBC Hadley Gamble. He answered questions about a successor, about avoiding payments in dollars and sanctions, about the global energy market and the incomes of Russians.