Russia exploits history as a weapon — historian Vasyl Pavlov

Pavlov made this statement during an interview on Espreso TV.

"Just two days before Putin's interview, one central German newspaper published an article entitled 'History as a weapon.' In fact, we saw in Putin's speech or in his interview that Russia uses history precisely as a weapon. And those moments are very interesting here; in this cluster of his interview, Putin denied the right to exist to any state that at one time left the empire or gained independence, seeking its place in the world," explained Pavlov.

According to Pavlov, the Russian dictator genuinely believes the sentiments expressed during his interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson. This belief extends to his assumption that Ukrainians would not resist during the so-called military operation.

"Because he himself and his entourage created a false picture of the world, false ideas in many areas, including false historical ideas. To be honest, Russian historical science has not allowed itself such passages for a long time; they have numerous studies that adequately assess these events and operate with documents. Here we see the opinion of one person living in his own paradigm and vision of all processes, including history," he concluded.

Putin's interview with Carlson: Key takeaways

On February 6, Tucker Carlson interviewed with Putin in Russia. The EU, skeptical due to Putin's dishonesty, anticipated his attempt to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine.

During the interview, Putin acknowledged that Russia had not achieved its goals in the Ukraine conflict. Simultaneously, he blamed Kyiv for reluctance in negotiations, claiming he signaled the US to cease weapon supplies to Ukraine, proposing a potential end to the war within weeks.

Regarding the Nord Stream explosion, Putin accused American special services and Germany, which he claims remain silent on the matter.

GUR representative Andriy Yusov, critiquing Putin's statements to Carlson, labeled the Russian leader a "geopolitical madman" who "speaks nonsensically about international law, history, decides which nations should exist, and indulges in memes about the Austrian General Staff."