Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly dismissed rumors of a forthcoming interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Sergii Nykyforov, the presidential spokesperson, issued a statement on Thursday, stating, "Mr. Tucker Carlson should check his FSB sources more carefully. The president of Ukraine has a completely different schedule, and Tucker Carlson is not on it." The FSB reference pertains to Russia's Federal Security Service.
According to Newsweek, the rebuttal from Zelensky's camp arrived just hours after Carlson, previously a Fox News host, announced that he had secured an interview with the Ukrainian leader. "We've been trying for two years, and with particular intensity after interviewing [President Vladimir] Putin in February," Carlson stated on X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He further claimed that his team had been attempting to secure an interview with Zelensky since 2022.
In February, Carlson made headlines by interviewing Putin about the ongoing war in Ukraine, marking him as the first Western journalist to do so since the conflict erupted in February 2022. "We're in journalism. Our duty is to inform people," Carlson stated, justifying his interview with the Russian leader. He expressed his intention to "bring Americans much-needed information about the conflict that's completely reshaping their country's position in the world."
Although Carlson didn't specify when the purported interview with Zelensky would take place, he hinted at its imminent arrival, writing, "Coming soon we hope." Carlson, who hosted Fox News from 2016 to 2023, left the network in April 2023 without any official explanation from his former employer. Prior to his departure, he faced criticism from liberal quarters for his critique of Zelensky and his stance on the Ukrainian war, which ironically earned him accolades from Kremlin propagandists.
The response to Nykyforov's statement on Facebook was largely negative among Ukrainian social media users. One user expressed disappointment, stating, "Like it or not, Carlson is one of the top influential journalists in the U.S., with an audience of millions. It would be a chance to talk to another part of American society, whose support we lack."
Before the official denial, Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko expressed on X that he believed an interview with Tucker would be beneficial. He wrote, "And unlike Putin, a Ukrainian wartime leader has no need to crack freakishly weird mumbo-jumbo, pseudo-historical, freak Viking-era theories to explain why Ukraine fights for survival in the largest European war of aggression since Hitler and why it is so important to help Ukraine win."
Despite the controversy, the Ukrainian president's office remains steadfast in its stance. The incident underscores the complex dynamics of international journalism and the delicate balance between providing information and maintaining diplomatic relations. It also highlights the importance of conservative voices in the media landscape, even when their views may not align with those of the mainstream.
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