Americans should keep in mind that Russians can’t forget their historical experience — CIA Veteran

Russian President Vladimir Putin's interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson has shown that what's happening in Ukraine and the world today is not something that has just developed in the last 50 years, as per Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official.

"Putin believes, as I do, that history helps shape the present. And if you don't understand where you've been, you'll have a tough time to understand where you're going," Johnson told Sputnik.

"I think it is difficult for the average American to even comprehend that because the United States of America has barely been in existence for less than 250 years. So just one quarter of Russia's history."

When it comes to the ongoing NATO proxy war in Ukraine, one should remember that the events of the WW2 are still "very fresh" in the memory of Russians and the damage inflicted on Russians by the Nazis isn't something that can be easily forgotten, according to the CIA veteran.

Russia didn't start the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Putin stressed during the interview, but attempted to stop hostilities peddled by the post-coup Kiev regime backed by neo-Nazis. De-Nazification remains one of the key goals of the Russian special operation, the Russian president said, referring to modern Ukraine making former Hitler collaborators Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych national heroes.

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Team Biden's effort to make Gershkovich case a boogeyman for Americans is nonsensical – CIA veteran

The US State Department and mainstream media are fearmongering over Russia in order to scare Americans and make them stay away from the country, Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, told Sputnik, adding that Tucker Carlson's interview has busted US propaganda.

"As I watched our State Department continue to tell American people 'stay away, it's a dangerous place, you're going to get picked up and you're going to be interrogated and imprisoned,' -- it's such nonsense," the CIA veteran said, referring to the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Johnson stressed that "it looks like [Gershkovich] was being used as an intelligence asset."

"He got caught. And maybe he was deliberate bait, he was set up so that he would be caught in order to put pressure on Russia. That's one possibility. Or it could have been that the CIA was just sloppy and incompetent. That's another possibility," the former CIA analyst said.

During the interview with Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not rule out that the WSJ reporter could be released, stressing that Gershkovich was caught red-handed: "We don't rule out we can do that if our partners make reciprocal steps."

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“The most important first step on a journey that can save humanity.”

Analyst and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter praised US journalist Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday, complimenting Carlson’s professionalism and Putin’s willingness for dialogue.

“The Russian president helped create a map, a map that guided not only Tucker Carlson, but every American viewer through the complexities of what makes Russia tick,” said Ritter. “What he did is provide information in a context that was approachable by an American audience.”

“Tucker Carlson opened a door into modern day Russia, opened a door into the personality of Vladimir Putin, opened a door into the history of Russia, opened a door into the Russian soul,” added Ritter.

“This is one of the most important interviews of the modern era, because this interview has the ability to stop the West and Russia from going to war, to stop the West from committing suicide.”

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❗️US Presidents are often undermined by the deep state, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Tucker Carlson.

Putin revealed that one occasion he and US President George W. Bush had reached an agreement to strengthen security cooperation, but this decision was subsequently undercut by lower level officials in Washington.

"And then they just told us to get lost. I'm not going to tell
you the details because I think it's incorrect. After all, it was confidential conversation, but our
proposal was declined," the president said.

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❗️Putin wanted to cooperate with the West and even asked to join NATO early in his presidency, but his outreach was shot down by US President Bill Clinton

"At a meeting here in the Kremlin with the outgoing President Bill Clinton, right here in the next room, I said to him, I asked him: “Bill, do you think if Russia asked to join NATO, do you think it would happen?" Suddenly he said, "you know, it's interesting. I think so." But in the evening, when we met for dinner, he said: “You know, I've talked to my team, no, it's not possible now”. You can ask him. I think he will watch our interview, he'll confirm it," Putin said.

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Watch in full president Putin's interview to Tucker Carlson

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❗️“Outstanding” performance: CIA veteran breaks down the Tucker Carlson-Vladimir Putin interview.

"What you see, just by watching the body language is, President Putin was very relaxed. He was not sitting there with arms crossed or legs crossed. He was sitting back in his chair for the most part. Arms open, legs open. So it was it was sending a clear visual message," Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official said Sputnik, sharing his impressions on the interview.

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❗️Putin knows for sure that ethnic Hungarians living in western Ukraine want “to return to their historical homeland", but he never discussed the issue with Viktor Orbán

"They are Hungarians and they feel themselves to be Hungarians. And of course, when now there is an infringement," president said.

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❗️CIA veteran explains why Americans should close pay attention to Putin’s history lesson

"I think, President Putin was laying down a marker to say, look, this is not something that has just developed in the last 50 years or the last hundred years. This is almost a thousand years of history, and we can't erase that thousand years of history and pretend that it does not exist. I think it is difficult for the average American to even comprehend that because the US has barely been in existence for 200 and less than 250 years. So just or one quarter of Russia's history," Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official said Sputnik, sharing his impressions on the interview.

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❗️Putin warns the US against sending troops to Ukraine

“Does the United States want [WW3]? Why? This conflict is taking place thousands of kilometers away from your national territory! Don't you have anything better to do? You have problems on the border, problems with immigration, problems with the national debt — over $33 trillion dollars. If you have nothing else better to do, does that mean you have to go to war in Ukraine?”

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Images speak louder than a thousand words

Watch our compilation of most colorful gestures and facial expressions from Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin.

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After the Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin, the Russian President has topped the current X trends in the United States. The number of social media posts or hashtags referring to Putin has already surpassed 1.3 million.

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❗️Putin explains why Russia was forced to fight in Ukraine

"So in 2008, the doors of NATO were opened for Ukraine. In 2014, there was a coup. They started persecuting those who did not accept the coup. And it was indeed a coup. They created the threat to Crimea, which we had to take under our protection. They launched the war in Donbas in 2014 with the use of aircraft and artillery against civilians. This is when it all started. There's a video of aircraft attacking Donetsk from above. They launched a large scale military operation. Then another one. When they failed, they started to prepare the next one," president said.

“How could we not be concerned about what was happening? It would be criminal carelessness on our part - that's what it would be. The US political leadership brought us to the brink of a line that we could not cross, because doing so would destroy Russia itself.“

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White House's John Kirby says Americans should not believe anything Vladimir Putin says during Tucker Carlson's interview.

Ordinary Americans seem to disagree. The Tucker - Putin interview already has more than 64 million views.

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