Interviewer Lex Friedman says he wants to visit Russia to talk to Putin
American blogger Lex Friedman has announced his plans to visit Russia to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said this on January 22 on the air of YouTube channel of TV host Joe Rogan.
"I will be traveling to Russia in order to interview Vladimir Putin," Friedman said on the podcast.
The interviewer did not explain whether he had any arrangements to meet with the Russian head of state.
Friedman noted that he wants to contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Earlier, on January 20, Lex Friedman criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired in May 2024) after an interview with him in early January for being rude to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The blogger emphasized that another leader must be taken seriously in order to settle.
During the interview, the Ukrainian leader said that he has a good command of the Russian language, but sincerely despises the Russian people. Thus he explained why the conversation took place not in Russian, which both he and Friedman know, but in Ukrainian with the help of an interpreter. Reacting to this, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, called Zelensky's behavior a standard violation of political correctness.
During the interview, Zelensky also said that he had suggested that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump sell weapons to Kiev for $300 billion from Russia's frozen assets. He noted that this would be one of the security guarantees for the country. Reacting to this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed to Zelensky's strengthened corrupt ties with the West.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by the Russian president on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
