Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was grateful to right-wing American TV presenter Tucker Carlson for an interview he gave last week, but was surprised by the lack of “sharp questions”, writes The Guardian, citing news.ro.

Last week, former Fox News star Carlson published a two-hour interview with Putin in Moscow that made headlines around the world.

Putin told Russian TV host Pavel Zarubin on Wednesday that he wished Tucker Carlson had been more aggressive, which would have given him the right to respond just as strongly.

“To be honest, I thought he would be aggressive and ask so-called sharp questions. Not only was I ready for it, but I wanted it, because it would give me the opportunity to answer in the same way,” Putin said. in the on-air comments on Wednesday.

For several hours after Zarubin’s interview, there was no response from Carlson, other than enthusiastic approval of the quality of the Moscow metro.

Carlson’s interview was Putin’s first with an American journalist since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, and in it Putin said the West must understand that it is “impossible” for Russia to be defeated in Ukraine.

“Since today we cannot have a direct dialogue (with the West) … we should be grateful to Mr. Carlson that he can do this through his role as a mediator,” Putin said.

He told Zarubin he was surprised Tucker Carlson didn’t interrupt him anymore.

“To be honest, I did not fully enjoy this interview,” Putin said.

The Kremlin said Putin agreed to Carlson’s interview because the former Fox News anchor’s approach differs from the “one-sided” coverage of the conflict in Ukraine by many Western media outlets.

Some Western media criticized Carlson for not asking tough questions in the interview. Putin admitted that Carlson “tried to kill me several times”, but praised the conservative journalist, who is close to former US President Donald Trump, for his “patience”.

Elsewhere in an interview with Zarubin, Putin said he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump, but was ready to work with any American president.

Zarubin asked the president who was “better for us” between Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican.

Putin responded without hesitation: “Biden. He is a more experienced person, more predictable, an old-school politician,” but added: “We will work with any American president who is trusted by the American people.”

Kremlin documents leaked in 2021 suggest that Putin personally authorized a covert operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed-door meeting of Russia’s National Security Council.

Putin and his security chiefs agreed that a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic goals, including “social unrest” in the US and weakening the US president’s negotiating position.