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Putin slams Bill Clinton for deceiving him over NATO, trashes Biden, praises Trump, in tense Tucker talk

February 9, 2024 | | Print Article

Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed former President Bill Clinton, current President Joe Biden, and the CIA in his interview with Tucker Carlson.

Bill Clinton

Starting with Clinton, he claimed that the former president had told him Russia stood a chance at being welcomed into NATO but later reneged on what he’d said.

“At a meeting here in the Kremlin with the outgoing President Bill Clinton, right here in the next room, I said to him, I asked him: ‘Bill, do you think if Russia asked to join NATO, do you think it would happen?’ Suddenly he said, ‘You know, it’s interesting. I think so,’” Putin said.

“But in the evening, when we met for dinner, he said: ‘You know, I’ve talked to my team, no, it’s not possible now.’ You can ask him. I think he will watch our interview, he’ll confirm it,” the Russian president added.

Listen:

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He continued by claiming that Russia would have gladly joined NATO had Clinton permitted him.

“If he had said yes, the process of rapprochement would have commenced, and eventually it might have happened if we had seen some sincere wish on the side of our partners. But it didn’t happen. Well, no means no, okay, fine,” he said.

Joe Biden

Putin also criticized current President Biden’s blind support for Ukraine, arguing that the war would be over in “a few weeks” if the United States simply stopped handing over all its weapons and equipment.

“What’s there to work out? It’s very simple. I repeat, we have contacts through various agencies. I will tell you what we are saying on this matter and what we are conveying to the US leadership,” he said.

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“If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks. That’s it. And then we can agree on some terms before you do that, stop. What’s easier? Why would I call him? What should I talk to him about? Or beg him for what?” he added.

Listen:

CIA

Putin at one point accused the CIA of being responsible for the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines. When Carlson asked for proof, the Russian president then elaborated.

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“You know, I won’t get into details, but people always say in such cases, look for someone who is interested,” he said. “But in this case, we should not only look for someone who is interested, but also for someone who has capabilities.”

“Because there may be many people interested, but not all of them are capable of sinking to the bottom of the Baltic Sea and carrying out this explosion. These two components should be connected. Who is interested and who is capable of doing it?”  he added.

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The Biden administration for its part didn’t care for anything the Russian president had to say.

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Indeed, during a White House press briefing, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said the American people shouldn’t believe anything Putin said.

“Anybody that watches that interview, you need to make sure to remember that you are listening to Vladimir Putin. You shouldn’t take at face value anything he has to say,” he said.

He later addressed Putin’s suggestion that the U.S. and the West in general are responsible for the war in Ukraine.

“I think the American people know well who is at fault here,” he said. “And I think they know that there was no ground whatsoever for the invasion on February 22nd two years ago.”

“He invaded a neighboring country without provocation. Ukraine wasn’t a threat to anybody, and the American people understand that. And the American people understand what Ukraine is fighting for. And all they’re asking for is our help. They’re not asking for American boots on the ground,” he added.

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Dovetailing back to Putin’s interview, he also praised former President Donald Trump while talking about his “good” relationship with former President George W. Bush.

“I had a very good relationship with say Bush,” he said, cautioning however that Bush “made a lot of mistakes with regard to Russia.”

“But in general, on a personal human level, I had a very good relationship with him. He was no worse than any other American or Russian or European politician. I assure you he understood what he was doing as well as others. I had such personal relationship with Trump as well,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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