On Feb. 6, American journalist Tucker Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. It marked the first time the Russian leader agreed to an interview with a U.S. journalist since 2021. Carlson is a popular figure with the American far-right MAGA movement, and his interview with Putin came at a critical time for the United States, as Congress debates a potentially huge defense bill for Ukraine and as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its second anniversary.

Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan warns Americans to take the interview with more than just a grain of salt and says that Carlson effectively acted as Putin’s loyal propagandist. Putin agreeing to host Tucker had nothing to do with journalism, Zeihan concludes, and everything to do with Putin’s own ambitions of complicating things in Congress so that he can press his ground offensive in Ukraine.

The following is an excerpt from Peter’s Feb. 13 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

At this point you’ve all seen or heard about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Putin (if you haven’t…you didn’t miss much). This was the first time Putin has spoken to an American “journalist” since his military invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

As we enter the third year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I think this is as good a time as ever to step back and take inventory of the situation. Since the beginning, we have known that the longer the war drags on, the harder it will be for Ukraine to mount a definitive counter-offensive. One reason for this has to do with differences in command structures; Russia follows a strict top-down delegation of authority, while Ukraine delegates relatively more local authority to lower-level officers.

While this strategy has paid off for Ukraine so far, the Russian military apparatus is slowly learning to adapt. To compete, Ukraine will need to take a chapter out of the Russian military school of thought and assert a more dominant command structure, one that allows for military-wide policy implementation.

Apart from strategy, Ukraine also needs more and better weaponry from its Western allies. This will only get harder as time goes on. Putin knows this, and perhaps that is why he chose this moment, as Congress struggles to pass a military aid package for Ukraine and Israel, to stir the pot. Add to the mix the fact that this is an election year…