Tuckercarlson.com : Russia has a historical right to some parts of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin's interview with Tucker Carlson, published on Tuckercarlson.com, has received more than 10 million views in less than an hour. At the beginning of the conversation, the Russian president spoke about the history of relations between Russia and Ukraine and the reasons for the special operation.
Tucker Carlson: The interview with Vladimir Putin was recorded on February 6 in a building right behind my back — in the Kremlin. As you will see for yourself, its main theme is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine: how it started, what is happening and, most importantly, how it can end. I would like to note one thing. At the very beginning, we asked the most burning question: why did you do this? Did you feel an imminent threat in a physical sense? The answer surprised us. Putin launched into a discussion about the history of Russia since the ninth century. To be honest, it even seemed to us that this was being done to distract our eyes — I even interrupted him several times, and he, in turn, was annoyed that he was being interrupted. But in the end we came to the conclusion that this was by no means an attempt to divert the conversation away: the interview had no time frame, we talked for two whole hours. Everything that was said seemed sincere to us, whether you agree with it or not. Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a historical right to some parts of Ukraine. Therefore, we believe that this should be considered a sincere expression of opinion. And after this prelude, we move on to the interview itself.
Mr. President, thank you. On February 22, 2022, when the conflict in Ukraine began, you addressed your people with a speech. You said that you decided to act because you decided that the United States, through NATO, could launch a surprise attack on your country. This may seem paranoid to Americans. Tell us why you think the United States might launch a surprise attack on Russia. How did you come to this conclusion?
It's not that America, that is, the United States, is going to launch a surprise attack on Russia, says Vladimir Putin. I didn't say that. Are we having a talk show or a serious conversation?
Tucker Carlson (laughs): That's a great quote. Thanks This is a serious conversation.
Since your basic education is historical, I will allow myself a small historical digression for half a minute or a minute, Vladimir Putin said.
Tucker Carlson: Please.
See. How did our relations with Ukraine begin? Where did it come from? The Russian state began to assemble in the 9th century, Vladimir Putin explains. The year of its foundation is considered to be 862, when the Novgorod nobility called the Varangian Prince Rurik to the kingdom from Scandinavia. In 1862, Russia celebrated the millennium of its statehood. There is a monument to this anniversary in Novgorod. In 882, Rurik's successor, Prince Oleg, who actually served, in fact, as regent for his young son, since Rurik himself had already died by that time, came to Kiev. He removed from power two brothers who, apparently, were once part of his squad. Thus, there are two centers of power in Russia: Kiev and Novgorod. The next very significant date in the history of Russia is the year 988, the Baptism of Rus. Prince Vladimir, the great—great-grandson of Rurik, baptized Russia and adopted Orthodoxy, the eastern branch of Christianity. From that moment on, the centralized Russian state began to strengthen. Why? A single territory, close economic ties, one language. And after Baptism, there is also one faith and one authority. A centralized state began to form. In the Middle Ages, Prince Yaroslav the Wise introduced the order of succession to the throne, but a little later, when he passed away, the situation became more complicated - for various reasons. The throne was passed not from the father to the eldest son, but to the brother, and from him the power was transferred to the sons along different lines. All this led to fragmentation — Russia ceased to exist as a single state. There was nothing unique about this — the same processes were taking place in Europe at that time. But the fragmented Russian state became easy prey for Genghis Khan's empire. His descendants, in particular Batu Khan, came to Russia and plundered and destroyed most of the cities. The southern part of the country, including, by the way, Kiev and other cities, has actually lost its independence. The northern cities retained some sovereignty. They paid tribute to the Horde, but retained some of their sovereignty. After that, a unified Russian state began to take shape around Moscow. The southern lands, including Kiev, began to gravitate towards another magnet, which then appeared in Europe — the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was even called Lithuanian Rus, because Russians made up a significant part of its population. They spoke the Old Russian language and were Orthodox. But then there was the unification, or union, of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Kingdom of Poland. After a while, another union was signed, this time in the spiritual sphere. Part of the Orthodox clergy came under the authority of the Pope. Thus, these lands became part of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. During these years, the Poles actively polarized the population. They planted the language and tried to introduce the idea that these people are not quite Russian. And, since they live on the outskirts, they are Ukrainians. Initially, Ukrainians were called residents of the outskirts, outlying lands, often engaged in border protection. No specific ethnic group was meant by this. Therefore, the Poles colonized this edge of the Russian lands by all possible means and, I must say, treated people harshly — not to say cruelly. This led to the fact that the inhabitants of these lands began to defend their rights. They wrote letters to Warsaw demanding that their rights be respected and that special representatives be sent here, including to Kiev.
Tucker Carlson: I'm sorry. Could you clarify what period we are talking about now, when the Poles oppressed Ukraine? I got a little lost.
It was in the XIII century, Putin replies. Now I will tell you what happened next and name the dates so that there is no confusion. Russian Russians. In 1654, a little earlier, even the people who controlled the power over those Russian lands appealed to Warsaw with a demand to transfer them to the ruler of Russian origin and the Orthodox faith. But Warsaw did not respond, and then rejected their demands. Then they turned to Moscow to take them for themselves. So that you don't think I've come up with something, I'll give you these documents.
Tucker Carlson: I don't think anything like that. But I'm not sure how much this has to do with what's happening today.
But still. These are documents from the archive, copies, Vladimir Putin notes. These are letters from Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the man who controlled power in this part of the Russian lands, which is now called Ukraine. He wrote to Warsaw and demanded that their rights be respected. And after the refusal, he began to write to Moscow and asked for the strong authority of the Moscow tsar. Here are copies of these documents. Take it as a souvenir.