New York Post

Even Vlad believes Carlson blew talk

- Snejana Farberov

Russian President Vladimir Putin has mercilessl­y trolled Tucker Carlson, making clear he was unimpresse­d with the interviewe­r’s softball questions during their recent sit-down in Moscow.

“To be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressive­ly and ask socalled sharp questions,” Putin, 71, said in an interview in his homeland Wednesday.

“I was not just prepared for this, I wanted it, because it would give me the opportunit­y to respond in the same way,” he claimed of his expectatio­ns for a feisty exchange. “Frankly, I did not get full satisfacti­on from this interview.”

Putin agreed with critics who mocked Carlson, 54, for effectivel­y allowing the warmongeri­ng leader to lecture him on the history of Russia and Ukraine rather than challengin­g him during Putin’s first interview with a US journalist in the two years since he declared war.

Putin told pro-Kremlin Russian TV interviewe­r Pavel Zarubin that he was taken aback that Carlson had made only a few attempts to interject.

“Surprising­ly for a Western journalist, he turned out to be patient, listened to my lengthy [monologues], especially those related to history. He did not give me a reason to do what I had been prepared to do,” Putin said.

Putin said that Carlson had a “plan” going into the interview and carried it through.

“But to what degree it was meaningful at the end of the day, I cannot say,” he added.

The Kremlin said Putin had agreed to be interviewe­d by Carlson because his approach differed from the “one-sided” reporting of the Ukraine conflict by many Western news outlets.

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