Tucker Carlson interviews President Vladimir Putin

Former TV host Tucker Carlson conducted an interview with President Vladimir Putin confirmed Kremlin Wednesday terming it "pro-American", as the journalist revealed just a day earlier that he was going to interview the Russian leader.

Tucker Carlson, who was a host on Fox News, became the first Western journalist to sit with Vladimir Putin since the special military operation in Ukraine was started in February 2022. 

Just a day earlier, the 56-year-old told in a video message posted on X — formerly called Twitter — that "unaware English-speaking people" also need to listen to the 71-year-old Russian leader as their media is "corrupt and lies to them".

"We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview," Tucker Carlson announced in a video on X, adding that "most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now."

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman said Putin had agreed to the Carlson interview because of his different approach which is not aligned with the "one-sided" reporting of the Ukraine conflict, unlike Western news outlets.

"When it comes to the countries of the collective West, the large network media, TV channels, (and) large newspapers can in no way boast of even trying to at least look impartial in terms of coverage," Peskov said in a news briefing Wednesday.

"These are all media outlets that take an exceptionally one-sided position. Of course, there is no desire to communicate with such media, and it hardly makes sense, and it is unlikely that it will be useful."

Responding to a question of why Carlson interviewed Putin, the spokesman said the journalist's approach was "in no way pro-Russian, it is not pro-Ukrainian — it is pro-American".

According to Russian media TASS news agency, the interview would likely be aired on Thursday. 

Putin was last interviewed by Western media CNBC in 2021.