"First of all, it is good that they watch and listen to what I say," Putin told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin, commenting on the negative assessment of his interview.
It is not possible to have a direct dialogue with the West today and Moscow is grateful to Carlson for the mediation, Putin said.
"If today, for some reason related to them [the West], we are unable to conduct a direct dialogue, then we should be grateful to Mr. Carlson for the fact that we can do this through him as an intermediary," Putin said.
The only thing to regret is that the Russia did not start active actions in Ukraine earlier, the president clarified.
Putin recalled the Minsk agreements and the recognition of the then German Chancellor and French President that they did not intend to fulfill the agreements, but simply bought time.
"The only thing we can regret is that we did not start our active actions [in Ukraine] earlier, believing that we were dealing with decent people," the president highlighted.
NATO is a tool of US foreign policy, if Washington believes that it does not need it, this is its decision, Putin said.
"I think that NATO is no longer necessary at all, there is no point. It only has one meaning — it is an instrument of US foreign policy. But if the United States believes that it does not need this tool, this is its decision," Putin said.
Former President Donald Trump has his own view on how the United States should approach its relations with its allies, Putin clarified.
“Trump has always been called a non-systemic politician. He has his own view about how the United States should develop relations with its allies,” said, when asked to comment on Trump's relations with European leaders.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is hostile toward Russia but is also hostile toward its own country and neglects Berlin's economic interests, Putin stressed.
"People like the German Foreign Minister, they are, of course, in this case, she is, of course, hostile towards our country... But she is, in my opinion, also hostile toward her own country. Because it is hard to think of a politician of such a rank treating the economic interests of his country, his people, with such neglect," the president emphasized.
The president said that US journalist Tucker Carlson is a "dangerous man" because he chose an unexpected tactic for the interview.
"I think that Carlson... is a dangerous man... Because, to be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask these so-called pressing questions. And I was not just ready for it — I wanted it. Because it would give me the opportunity to respond just as sharply, which, in my opinion, would give a certain specificity to our entire conversation," Putin emphasized.
Carlson chose a different tactic, and was surprisingly rather patient for a Western journalist, Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he discussed with US journalist Tucker Carlson the "demonization of Russia" after the interview was concluded.
"He went through his plan, as I said and as I understood, and that is it, he did not go beyond this plan. There were some other topics that I think it would be important to talk about. But I did not further promote topics that the journalist did not bring up in conversation with me. Therefore, the issue of demonizing Russia, related, say, to the same interethnic events, to the Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire, well, of course, they should have arisen during such an official part," Putin told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin.
Off the record Carlson and Putin discussed the demonization of Russia in the West.
"But one of the topics that we talked about with him already when the cameras were turned off is exactly what the US Secretary of State talked about several times, he talked about it, Mr. [Antony] Blinken, that his relative, his great-grandfather, fled Russia from the Jewish pogroms. And in different countries of the world, in Europe, in the United States, this topic constantly arises, I repeat, it arises with the aim of demonizing Russia," Putin said, adding that Blinken should not make such public personal statements as they can lead to problems.
US sanctions against American journalist Tucker Carlson after his visit to Russia would show the true face of the modern liberal and democratic dictatorship in the United States, Putin stressed.
“But from the point of view of making people all over the world understand what a modern liberal-democratic, in quotes, dictatorship, which is allegedly represented in today’s ruling class of the United States, is, this would be nice. They would then show their true face,” the president highlighted.
He said everything is possible these days in the United States.