The following is an interview with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin shot February 6 2024, at about 7pm. In the building behind us, which is, of course, the Kremlin, the interview, as you will see, if you watch it is primarily about the war in progress, the war on Ukraine, how it started, what's happening, and most pressingly, how it might end. One note before you watch, at the beginning of the interview, we asked the most obvious question, which is why did you do this?
Did you feel a threat, an imminent physical threat?
And that's your justification?
And the answer we got shocked us. Putin went on for a very long time, probably half an hour about the history of Russia going back to the eighth century. And honestly, we thought this was a filibustering technique and found it annoying and interrupted him several times. And he responded, he was annoyed by the interruption. But we concluded in the end for what it's worth, that it was not a filibustering technique, there was no time limit on the interview, we ended it after more than two hours. Instead, what you're about to see seem to us sincere, whether you agree with it or not. Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has a historic claim to parts of western Ukraine.
So our opinion would be to view it in that light as a sincere expression of what he thinks. And with that, here it is. Mr. President, thank you. On February 22 2022, you addressed your country in a nationwide address when the conflict in Ukraine started. And you said that you were acting because you had come to the conclusion that the United States through NATO might initiate a, quote, surprise attack on our country. And to American ears. That sounds paranoid, tell us why you believe the United States might strike Russia out of the blue. How did you conclude that?
