Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has returned to Moscow, nine months after his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to speak with the country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an effort to prevent what he described as an impending nuclear conflict between the United States and Russia.
In a video posted on X on Tuesday, Carlson stood outside Moscow’s Red Square to announce the soon-to-be-released interview.
Carlson opened by accusing the Biden administration of escalating tensions by supplying Ukraine with long-range ATACMS weapons, alleging these moves have pushed the U.S. closer to nuclear war. He asserted that the U.S. is engaged in “a hot war with Russia, unbeknownst to most Americans,” and lambasted the administration’s lack of diplomatic engagement.
In explaining his desire to interview Lavrov, Carlson said: “We felt there must be someone behind the scenes in Washington working to make sure that this conflict doesn’t become a nuclear holocaust. But we found out that no, in fact, there is nobody.”
He continued: “Tony Blinken, the current Secretary of State, cut off all contact between the US and Russian governments. There is no back channel, there is no conversation, and there hasn’t been for more than two years. That’s shocking.”
“Meanwhile,” Carlson added, “most Americans have no access to any perspective other than that granted to them by NBC News and the New York Times. They don’t know how close we are. They don’t know the Russian perspective.”
As the video continued, Carlson claimed his efforts to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were “thwarted” by the U.S. government despite multiple efforts.
“We’ve been unable to speak to him,” Carlson said.
The interview with Lavrov, which reportedly lasted over an hour, is set to be released in the coming days.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described the discussion as “wide-ranging,” touching on U.S.-Russia relations, the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House, global geopolitics, and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“The emphasis was placed on the modern, current history of our difficult relations with the United States,” Zakharova told Russian state media outlet Tass.
During Carlson’s previous visit in February he praised Moscow’s supermarket prices, which he contrasted with U.S. affordability, and conducted an interview with Putin.