Russian chief says deal to launch Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich doable after ‘reciprocal steps’.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible” whereas insisting he doesn’t search to broaden the conflict to neighbouring nations corresponding to Poland and Latvia.

In a high-profile interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin denied that he had territorial ambitions throughout Europe and mentioned he would solely ship troops into neighbouring nations if attacked first.

“It is absolutely out of the question. You just don’t have to be any kind of analyst, it goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war, and a global war will bring all of humanity to the brink of devastation,” Putin mentioned within the interview posted on-line on Thursday. “It’s obvious.”

During a two-hour interview that noticed Putin speak at size in regards to the historical past of Eastern Europe and Russia, the Russian chief mentioned that his authorities was in touch with the United States and {that a} peaceable decision to the conflict would solely be doable if Washington stops supplying weapons to Ukraine.

“I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership,” Putin mentioned. “If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks, that’s it, and then we can agree on some terms. Before you do that, stop.”

Asked by Carlson whether or not he could be keen to launch imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as a “sign of your decency”, the Russian chief mentioned a deal is feasible and there’s “no taboo” on resolving the problem.

“We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them. No, we have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner. However, in theory, we can say that we do not rule out that we can do that if our partners take reciprocal steps,” Putin mentioned.

Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March 2023 on spying expenses that Washington has described as “baseless”.

The Kremlin mentioned Putin agreed to take a seat down with Carlson as a result of he offered a much less one-sided view of the conflict in Ukraine.

Carlson has repeatedly questioned the rationale for US help for Kyiv, and in a video posted on social media this week, he criticised US media retailers for his or her “fawning” protection of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Before the interview, Carlson attracted criticism for travelling to Moscow to interview the Russian chief, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labelling the previous TV host a “useful idiot”.