Putin lies and attempts to portray himself as a victim: Interview analysis by ISW

The Institute for the Study of War has analysed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interview with Tucker Carlson and concluded that the former used it to spread falsehoods, distort history, and portray Russia as a victim, rather than the aggressor that it is in reality.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Quote from ISW: "Putin also attempted to use the interview to absurdly reframe Russia as the wronged party and not the initiator of the unprovoked war of conquest against Ukraine. Putin falsely claimed that Ukrainian "neo-Nazis" started the war in Ukraine in 2014 and that Russia’s full-scale invasion is an attempt to bring that war to an end. Putin repeated tired Russian rhetoric presenting Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in Donbas in 2014 and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as defensive campaigns aimed at protecting Russian people and the Russian nation."

Details: Analysts emphasise that this ongoing information operation aims to conceal the clear reality that Russia initiated a war of aggression against its neighbour in 2022, and blur the West's memory of what truly occurred.

The ISW reiterates that in this interview, the Russian president "continued his attempts to justify Russia’s invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 as responses to Ukraine’s and the West’s actions, in order to defend his long-standing calls for regime change in Kyiv and Ukraine’s "demilitarisation," "denazification," and "neutrality."

Quote from the ISW: "Putin falsely claimed that a US-backed "coup" in Ukraine in 2014 forced Russia to invade Crimea and begin military operations in the Donbas that same year. Putin falsely claimed that Ukraine initiated a military operation in the Donbas starting in 2014 and that Ukraine failed to implement the Minsk Agreements establishing the armistice that Putin broke in February 2022."

Analysts also noted that Putin accused NATO of allegedly exploiting Ukraine to build military bases under the guise of training Ukrainian forces.

"There have not been and still are no NATO military bases in Ukraine. These narratives are aimed at buttressing Putin’s long-standing calls for Ukraine’s "demilitarisation," which are likely aimed at stripping Ukraine of the means to defend itself and allowing Russia to impose its will upon Ukraine through force whenever the Kremlin so chooses," the ISW emphasised.

In this interview, Putin defined "denazification" as the prohibition of all neo-Nazi movements in Ukraine and the removal of individuals allegedly supporting Nazi ideology. Putin particularly singled out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The ISW believes that such statements by the Russian leader are further evidence that Putin would prefer to remove the current Ukrainian leadership and replace it with the one that would be more acceptable to the Kremlin.

Putin also continued to call for the "neutrality" of Ukraine.

In addition, analysts noted that the President of Russia continued to spread distorted versions of history, attempting to deny Ukrainian statehood and nationhood.

Quote from the ISW: "Putin continued long-standing Russian information operations to deny the existence of Ukrainian statehood and identity. Putin claimed that Ukrainians fundamentally do not exist as a nation and that Ukrainians are truly Russians espousing an artificial national identity, one fabricated by various external political actors for the purpose of eroding Russia’s ability to control its borderlands with other European powers. Putin rewrote centuries of history to this effect."

Details: Analysts emphasise that Putin consistently denies Ukrainian sovereignty, statehood, and identity to portray Russia's full-scale invasion as an attempt to reclaim supposedly "historically Russian lands" and as a "humanitarian effort to protect ethnic Russians and Russian speakers," whom Russia refers to as "compatriots abroad."

The ISW adds that Putin also regularly and deliberately abuses the definition of "ethnic Russian," erroneously including Ukrainians in it to promote the broader concept of the "Russian world" to justify Russia's revanchist claims to Ukraine and its people, as well as its broader imperialistic ambitions.

"None of Putin’s rewriting of history justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine," the ISW emphasised.

It is also reported that Putin once again voiced his distorted worldview about the weakening of the West and the dismantling of NATO as a prerequisite for creating a multipolar world led by Russia. He again portrayed NATO expansion and existence as a threat to Russia and any future world order under the leadership of Russia and China.

Quote from the ISW: "Putin is increasingly invoking a purposefully broad, vague, and pseudohistorical conception of Russian sovereignty to normalise wars of conquest and justify Russian goals to impose Putin’s will in Ukraine and beyond. Putin has long made demands for NATO to be restructured in a manner that would hinder its ability to resist future Russian military aggression, whether that be campaigns of conquest or efforts to establish Russian control over countries the Kremlin deems to be within Russia’s sphere of influence."

Details: The Russian president also attempted to use this interview to spread misinformation that Russia was supposedly interested in ending the war in Ukraine through negotiations.

Analysts noted that throughout the conversation, when discussing negotiations, Putin demonstrated that Russia was not interested in meaningful and legitimate talks and that he still sought to destroy Ukraine as a state. 

The Russian president also showcased his "overarching hostility towards the West, and falsely accused the West of forcing Russia to attack Ukraine."

"The Kremlin has periodically intensified this information operation feigning interest in negotiations, to seize upon actual Western interest in a negotiated settlement, undermine Western support for Ukraine and degrade Western efforts to send more security assistance to Ukraine. …

Putin and the Kremlin have intensified rhetoric in recent weeks indicating that Russia continues to pursue territorial objectives in Ukraine, which ISW assesses would amount to full Ukrainian and Western capitulation. ISW continues to assess that Putin’s negotiating position has not changed: He still seeks the destruction of Ukraine, and seeks to use an armistice to set favourable conditions for the Russian military to launch a subsequent, more successful war against Ukraine," analysts emphasise.

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