U.S. far-right pundit Tucker Carlson said on Dec. 4 that he returned to Moscow for an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, promising it would be released "very soon."
"So we came back to Moscow yesterday to interview the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, the longest-serving foreign minister in the world," Carlson said in a video released on X.
A former Fox News host and a close ally to President-elect Donald Trump, Carlson visited Russia's capital in February for a controversial interview with President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking with the Kremlin in the background, Carlson said he came to talk with Russia's chief diplomat about whether Moscow and Washington are heading toward a nuclear conflict in the wake of the Biden administration's decision to lift restrictions on long-range strikes in Russia.
The commentator added that he had just finished the interview and that it would be published soon.
In his comments, the controversial pundit claimed that "American military personnel launched missiles into mainland Russia that killed at least a dozen Russian soldiers," calling this an "undeclared war" that is closer to a nuclear exchange than the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Carlson provided no evidence for his assertion about the involvement of U.S. troops. The claim closely echoed Putin's previous statements that Ukraine is unable to use long-range missiles without the direct involvement of NATO personnel and that such a step would mean the West's direct involvement in the war.
The commentator also said he asked Lavrov whether Trump's victory would mean an end to the war. The U.S. president-elect has promised to bring both sides to the negotiating table, with some fearing he might push Kyiv toward painful concessions.
Carlson, whose commentary has been described as nativist, racist, and peddling falsehoods, has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration's support for Ukraine.
After his interview with Putin, Carlson was lambasted for platforming the Russian leader amid the full-scale invasion, not pressing him on difficult subjects, and not confronting his distortions of history.
Khrystyna Zhevlakova
(Updated: )
