Once we get past the Putin memes of history , there's important information - re CIA, military complex, energy, economy expansion, the backfiring of sanctions etc.
It took me many books, various authors from diff countries over several years to break away from this “russia is bad” mentality.
To me, this interview was a good one. Putin carried himself well, full of facts at his fingertips. I will pick a few points from it and provide context :
1. Christianity - many of us may have grown up thinking there were only 2 branches of Christians - Catholics and Protestants. There are actually 3 : Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.
Orthodox is practiced in Russia, Greece and various other countries that were once part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire or influenced by the Byzantine tradition.
What does this tell you ?
Russians are Christians. Putin goes to church every Sunday. He is a brother, yo.
Russia converted from paganism to Christianity in 842 AD (or 988AD) under the rule of Grand Prince Vladimir the Great of Kiev which is today Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. They have been Christians longer than the US.
2. The relationship of Russia and the Jews
Russia has been providing a safe passage for the Jews from the persecution of Europe from the 10th century
- Jews were expelled from England in 1290 by King Edward I and were only allowed to return in the mid-17th century.
- Spanish inquisitions in the 15th century required them to convert to Christianity or leave/ be killed
- Expulsion from France, Germany in the middle ages.
- Life wasn't all rosy and dandy in Russia either, they faced challenges in eastern Russia and hence the migration back to Israel back and forth, and eventually a decent settlement land
3. Is there an Israel settlement land in Russia ?
Yes. The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO) is a Jewish settlement in Russia, the only other country outside of Israel that provides this.
4. Are Christians ok with killing ?
Towards the end Tucker Carlson poked on this and asked what Putin thought about being a christian and killing.
I was thinking to myself, well hello Tucker - you should have at least pick up on the Christian history.
That and truly, what about the US and Europe and the millions they have killed in the last century. What did the US think when they dropped 2 nuclear bombs on Japan ? That this is the Christian way?
5. And with that, has Russia dropped a nuclear bomb on any countries ?
Nope
6. Who fought the most against the Nazis ?
Russia. Russia was the reason Nazi weakened. They lost 27 million people.
There was an example Putin gave where someone in Canada parliament was highlighting that he fought against Russia during WW2 and because of general hatred against Russia, all the politicians praised him and cheered him on.
What was the problem here?
If you are fighting against Russia in WW2, then you are a Nazi.
Can you believe that today’s politicians are blinded with hatred, and don't even know basic history that they were cheering on a Nazi. And this is Canada - a first world country.
7. Was the Japan bombing to weaken communism and Nazi ?
Well..the war was already reaching its end. Pearl Harbor happened 4 years before the bombing so it was not “in retaliation for peace keeping”.
Hitler killed himself 4 months before the bombing happened so it wasn't to weaken the Nazis.
But the Bretton Woods Conference did happen a year before that, and the US was the only country with atom bombs. Surely would have gotten every country who were still contemplating to sign up and make the US the main foreign trade currency - just saying.
It's probably an answer you will have to figure out on your own.
8. Does Putin hate the Nazis ?
Yes. He said they must be removed. He wants the neo nazis removed in Ukraine.
He apparently asked asked Zelensky why he was supporting neo nazis when his dad was a frontliner fighting against fascism. While he did not say what Zelensky responded, he did say that Zelensky is driven by the hype of everything. Also, Nazis are far right. Russia was far left.
9. Is Russia a communist country ?
No. They have embraced democracy for over 20 years now. There are def traces of social aspects but their capitalist driven economy is flourishing.
10. Did sanctions impact Russia ?
Nope. It backfired and impacted the US and Europe.
Russia used to trade 80% in USD, now it trades 13%. It used to trade 3% in Yuan, now 34%. Its relationship with China and other Brics countries are just getting stronger. The US on the other hand is suffering from increased debts.
11. Is Putin a fan of Stalin, Lenin ?
I was kinda surprised he took a pisser on both of them.
It was quite funny how he described the challenges of the USSR as dubious thanks to Stalin and Lenin.
12. What's up with the current Ukraine war ?
So many things. This can go on forever so I will just say what Putin said. They tried many attempts of peace keeping.
The Ukraine head even agreed in their conversations in Istanbul, but Boris Johnson dissuaded them. Now Johnson is happily retired while thousands are dying.
There is a current agreement the Minsk agreements and Zelensky has refused to honor.
The Minsk agreements were negotiated in 2014 and 2015 to establish a ceasefire and a political framework for resolving the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and separatist groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Eastern Ukraine.
13. What's up with Nato ?
Nato agreed not to extend their presence after 1991, they extended 5 times, now at the frontline of Russia.
14. Is Putin willing to negotiate with Ukraine ?
Yes, and tried many times but Ukraine now has a “non-negotiating” law against Putin.
15. Has Russia brokered peace conversations with the US ?
Many times but each time the US declined. Actually it was the CIA and other agents that declined. According to him he had decent relationship with the presidents - Bush, Clinton - but “who controls the US” that becomes a question.
He also wanted to see if Russian can join Nato, but was declined.
16. Does he want to keep the US journalist in prison ?
The journalist had confidential information that he was passing to secret service and was caught in the act. Putin does not want to keep him, but wants better negotiation deals out of it.
17. How much funding went to Ukraine?
Over $70 billion on weapons by US, Germany and others. Imagine if it was invested into building the country up instead of tearing it down.
18. Energy supply
The blast was one of the worst climate disaster in modern times. Russia’s side has rebuilt it and ready to resume. Germany refuses to take. Russia's economy is fine. Germany is suffering.
19. Putin’s thoughts on propaganda :
“victory in the war of propaganda - it is very difficult to defeat the United States because the United States controls all the world's media and many European media. The ultimate beneficiary of the biggest European media are American financial institutions”
20. Tucker Carlson on AI
I think Tucker was probing how advanced Russian AI tech is. To which Putin said he was more concern on the impact on humanity on AI and genetics
This is a wrap. While this might seem like a positive note on Russia, there are many things I disagree with Russia and there are many things I will praise US for. The above are just some points from the interview.
I will end this with what Putin said : “Everyone has the thought that Russia can be defeated on the battlefield because of arrogance, not because of great mind”
If there is one takeaway from all of this, its this - the 'Battle of egos' never benefited anyone
