Is Russia invading Poland? In the Carlson interview, Putin castigated the scenario as baseless propaganda. But NATO's doubts remain great.
Moscow – First Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – and then perhaps also Poland: In the West, fears of an expansion of the… Ukraine war gone up. But the President has warned of warnings within many NATO states about a Russian attack on neighboring countries Wladimir Putin now rejected as completely unfounded in a highly publicized interview.
Assurance in the Carlson interview: Putin rules out expansion of the Ukraine war to Poland
According to the Kremlin chief, an invasion is imminent Russia to the NATO states Poland or Latvia is basically “completely out of the question” – with one exception: When asked whether he could imagine a scenario in which he would send Russian troops to Poland, Putin replied in a statement on Thursday evening Interview with US presenter Tucker Carlson broadcast on airtime in the USA: “Only in one case: if Poland attacks Russia.”
Russia has no interest in Poland, Latvia or other countries, Putin said. “Why should we do that? We are simply not interested.” Putin continued that it contradicts common sense to get involved in “some kind of global war.” He accused the NATO states of intimidating their own people by creating the illusion of an “imaginary Russian threat”.
Interview with Tucker Carlson: Putin answers the questions of the right-wing agitator
The interview was eagerly awaited. The right one US talk show host Tucker Carlson had already spoken to the Kremlin chief in Moscow on Tuesday. The 127-minute interview appeared on Friday night in Germany on Carlson's website and the platform X, formerly Twitter. It is Putin's first in-depth conversation with a US interviewer since his war of aggression against Ukraine began almost two years ago. Carlson had previously announced the interview as a major media event.
Despite Putin's statement: NATO believes Russia's attack on Poland and the Baltics is
possible
Within NATO, the passage via Poland and the Baltics is given little credence – given repeated threats from Moscow. When asked, US National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby cautioned that nothing said in the interview should be taken at face value. “Remember: You are listening to Vladimir Putin,” he said, according to the news agency dpa – also against the background that the 54-year-old Carlson is known for spreading conspiracy theories and was fired from the ultra-conservative US broadcaster Fox News last year.
The European Union (EU) and NATO are therefore continuing to prepare for all possible scenarios. One of the largest training maneuvers is currently underway on the eastern flank of the defense alliance. With almost 90,000 soldiers, “Steadfast Defender 2024” also simulates a possible Russian attack.
Because of threats from Russia: Poland continues to arm its military
This is also happening against the background that many Western officials no longer consider such a scenario to be impossible. Just a few days ago, Poland's Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that his country was preparing for an emergency and would increase military spending in order to close gaps in its defense. “I anticipate every scenario and take the worst ones most seriously,” he told the daily Great Express.
His counterparts from the Baltics and Romania also made similar comments. The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has also warned against a Russian attack on a NATO country and demanded that the Bundeswehr must therefore become “war-ready” again.
The doubts are probably so great because Putin made similar vows before the start of the war in Ukraine. Thomas Jäger, professor of international politics at the University of Cologne, recently recalled this. Statements that Russia did not want to attack anyone followed a “well-known script,” he recently told the Kölner Stadtanzeiger. Since the start of the war in February 2024, the political expert continued, we have known “that we don’t have a day left.” (jkf)
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