Breaking News: Russia Will Nuke Germany & the UK if Ukraine War Continues, Warns Top Putin Advisor

Summary

---

Episode Overview

Podcast: The Tucker Carlson Show
Episode Title: Breaking News: Russia Will Nuke Germany & the UK if Ukraine War Continues, Warns Top Putin Advisor
Date: January 15, 2026
Theme:
This episode delivers an urgent warning about escalating global tensions, particularly centered on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Tucker Carlson asserts that Western policymakers are ignoring explicit Russian threats of nuclear retaliation, especially against Germany and the United Kingdom, if the war continues. The episode features a lengthy interview with Sergei Karaganov, a veteran Russian political adviser, who bluntly outlines scenarios in which Russia would initiate nuclear strikes on European capitals.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Rapidly Shifting Global Order

[00:00–07:45]

• Carlson opens with a roundup of critical world events: looming US strikes on Iran, US seizure of Greenland, and regime change in Venezuela, emphasizing uncertainty and the potential for catastrophic outcomes in each case.
• The central focus shifts quickly to Eastern Europe:

  "Russia is actively considering the use of nuclear weapons against Europe. Not against Kiev, against Europe. Specifically the UK and Germany. Just taking out the UK and Germany with nuclear weapons. That's a fact." (Carlson, 07:20)

2. Russian Nuclear Posturing and Policy

[07:45–10:43]

• Russia has updated its nuclear doctrine, broadening the scenarios under which it will use nuclear weapons, now including non-nuclear NATO countries acting as proxies for the US.
• Hypersonic missile attacks on Kyiv are interpreted as warnings from Russia to Europe:

  "The next one will have a nuclear warhead on it and it's coming at you, Europe." (Carlson, 09:30)

3. Western Management of the Ukraine War

[10:43–16:16]

• Carlson criticizes Western "proxy war" management in Ukraine, arguing that most decision-makers don't actually care about Ukrainian lives.

• Presents a 10-year-old clip of Chrystia Freeland (Canadian politician) and George Soros discussing their influence on post-Maidan Ukrainian leadership, suggesting Ukraine is administered by foreign interests.

  Notable quote:

  "Everyone running the country is actually employed by this Hungarian billionaire who's got nothing to do with the country. ... You put everybody in a country's leadership on your payroll. To what end?" (Carlson, 17:31)

4. Historical Context: West vs. Russia

[16:17–29:00]

• Explores the historical pattern of foreign attempts to control Russia for its vast resources.
• Contrasts post-Soviet chaos and Western-backed looting of Russia, and credits Putin for reasserting state control, tying Russia’s resilience to its resource wealth.

5. Critique of Western Leaders & Sanctions Policy

[35:57–46:00]

• Uses past clips of US politicians (e.g., John McCain, Lindsey Graham) mocking Russia as "a gas station with nuclear weapons," rejecting this as both ignorant and dangerous underestimation.
• Argues that sanctions have backfired, damaging the US dollar’s status and driving Russia towards China.
• Notable quote:

  "Sanctions did not punish Vladimir Putin. They punished the United States. And they completely destroyed Europe..." (Carlson, 46:00)

6. Western Recklessness and Calls for Regime Change

[46:00–54:22]

• Carlson denounces calls from US senators to assassinate Putin as both immoral and strategically idiotic, arguing that chaos in Russia would be even more dangerous for the world.
• Criticizes the entire Western foreign policy elite as intellectually and morally bankrupt, asserting the West is now at risk of literal destruction due to its policies.

---

Sergei Karaganov Interview

Introduction

[54:22–54:33]

• Sergei Karaganov, longtime Putin advisor, joins remotely from Moscow, described as having a track record of accurate, if alarming, predictions.

1. Russia’s Framing of the War: A Civilizational Conflict

[54:33–61:14]

• Karaganov frames the war as not Russia vs. Ukraine, but Russia vs. Europe—the "source of all evil in the history of humanity."

  "We are fighting not Ukraine, not Zelensky... We are fighting again there Europe..." (Karaganov, 54:46)

• European elites, he claims, need this war to maintain their legitimacy and survive politically.

2. On Defeating Europe: What It Means

[57:18–61:14]

• Karaganov dismisses the possibility of Russia’s defeat, warning that an existential crisis would trigger nuclear strikes against Europe:

  "Just if Russia comes ever close to a defeat, that would mean that Russia now would use nuclear weapons and the Europe will be finished physically." (Karaganov, 61:00)

3. Europe’s Leadership and Moral Decay

[61:14–67:49]

• Europe is "a joke," having lost both its economic strength and intellectual class—"dangerous idiots or moral idiots" now lead.

• He asserts Europeans no longer fear nuclear war or God, having lost their "core moral, political, spiritual core."

  Notable quote:

  "They lost much... Europe has lost its core moral, political, spiritual core. ... They have brought nazism, which was anti human etc. Now they have brought to us...something absolute anti human." (Karaganov, 68:00)

4. The Nuclear Threat: Specifics and Scenario

[71:42–79:50]

• Asked directly about Russia’s nuclear plans, Karaganov gives the starkest warning:

  "If [Putin] were to be assassinated... Europe will be taken away from the map of humanity... we would have to start to attack Europe with conventional weapons and then next step will be waves of nuclear strikes. ... My choice would be Britain and Germany." (Karaganov, 73:44 and 78:34)

• He suggests a timeline of "one or two years" for such escalation if war continues at current pace.

5. The Russia-China Alliance & Global Reordering

[79:50–82:49]

• Sees Russia-China partnership as a permanent feature "for the foreseeable future."
• Envisions a new "four powers" system: US, China, India, Russia as co-equal global stewards, with Europe absent.

6. Russia’s Soul and Direction

[82:49–85:30]

• Russia, he claims, is neither European nor Asian, but a unique civilizational fusion and spiritual inheritor of Christian Orthodoxy, Islamic, Buddhist, and Judaic threads.
• Rejoices in the return of "Russian culture, our Russian soul," seeing sanctions as a strategic gift that purged Western influence.

7. Western (Especially American) Role in the Conflict

[87:40–93:45]

• Blames US policymakers for provoking the conflict, especially by preventing a Russia-Germany alliance and expanding NATO.

• Is skeptical of US and Trump’s offers for peace, viewing them as insincere or impossible due to American domestic division.

  "If we stop this war, we should be prepared when the war resumes to do away with the source of this war. And that is — hostility of European elites and their willingness to fuel warfare on the European subcontinent." (Karaganov, 92:30)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Russia is actively considering the use of nuclear weapons against Europe. Not against Kiev, against Europe. Specifically the UK and Germany."
  (Carlson, 07:20)

• "We are fighting not Ukraine, not Zelensky... We are fighting again there Europe, which has been the source of all ills and all sources of evil in the history of humanity."
  (Karaganov, 54:46)

• "Just if Russia comes ever close to a defeat, that would mean that Russia now would use nuclear weapons and the Europe will be finished physically."
  (Karaganov, 61:00)

• "If [Putin] were to be assassinated...Europe will be taken away from the map of humanity... we would have to start to attack Europe with conventional weapons and then next step will be waves of nuclear strikes."
  (Karaganov, 73:44)

• "My choice would be Britain and Germany."
  (Karaganov, 79:19)

• "Sanctions did not punish Vladimir Putin. They punished the United States. And they completely destroyed Europe..."
  (Carlson, 46:00)

• "Any weapon is a sin, but using nuclear weapons is a double sin."
  (Karaganov, 74:51)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Opening: Global context—Iran, Greenland, Venezuela | | 07:20 | Russia’s nuclear threat against Europe | | 09:30 | Hypersonic missile warning to Europe | | 17:05 | Freeland/Soros clip: Western influence in Ukraine | | 35:57 | Western leaders call Russia "a gas station" | | 46:00 | Effect of sanctions and harm to the West | | 54:22 | Sergei Karaganov interview begins | | 57:18 | Defining "defeating Europe" | | 61:00 | Nuclear use if Russia is threatened | | 67:49 | Europe’s "loss of God" and moral decay | | 73:44 | What happens if Putin is assassinated | | 75:34 | Timeline for possible nuclear use: 1–2 years | | 79:19 | First targets would be UK and Germany | | 88:00 | Trump/US administration’s ability (and limits) to broker peace | | 93:57 | Conclusion of interview and episode |

---

Tone and Language

• Tucker Carlson's language is urgent, alarmist, and heavily critical of Western leadership, with frequent appeals to history and irony.
• Sergei Karaganov is blunt, polemical, sometimes philosophical, and deeply hostile toward current European elites.
• The atmosphere is one of imminent threat and righteous condemnation, punctuated by dark humor and dramatic historical analogies.

---

Summary

This episode of The Tucker Carlson Show is a clarion call about what Carlson frames as the most urgent global crisis: the credible Russian threat of nuclear strikes on Western Europe should the Ukraine war continue. Through detailed monologues and a revealing interview with Sergei Karaganov, Carlson drives home the point that the West—especially Europe—is both dangerously deluded about Russia’s resolve and ignoring clear signals from Russian intellectual and political elites. Karaganov outlines the logic, moral worldview, and tangible scenarios in which Russia would target Germany and the UK with nuclear weapons, insisting that only a fundamental change in Western policy and leadership could avert disaster.

For listeners seeking to understand why Russian nuclear threats are now at the center of geopolitical discourse—and why, according to this episode, Western governments and media are catastrophically unmoved—this episode is required listening.

---

Transcript

[A]

Well, there's a lot going on tonight around the world, certainly here in the United States, but foreign policy has got to be the headline tonight. And in order, here's what's happening. We're awaiting what look like imminent strikes on Iran. Have no idea actually whether those will happen or not. But all signs indicate something is coming and certainly momentum is in that direction. And events tend to follow momentum almost independently of the judgment of people who are in charge of. So it looks like we will be striking Iran or doing something there. A B it looks like the United States will be taking Greenland from Denmark, which sort of owns it. There are pictures this afternoon of a kind of sad looking Danish president or king or emir or potentate or whoever runs Denmark. Oh, how the Scandinavians have been diminished, leaving the White House looking kind of sad. So looks like the news has been delivered to him. Sorry, no more Denmark for you. Nuck is now an American protectorate. And then of course, there's Venezuela. Venezuela, as you well know, was changed. It was regime changed sort of shortly after New Year's by the Trump administration. And the then leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were extradited, some say kidnapped and moved to New York. They'll be put on trial, we are told. And so there's that. And that country and the rest of the world are trying to figure out, like what are the implications of this and what happens to Venezuela next. You have those top three. And of course you pray sincerely and you hope and sometimes you tell yourself that everything's going to be completely fine. And it may be completely fine, by the way. We don't know any differently. But you also assess downside risk. What are the potential downside risks? Without getting into too much detail, of course they exist. There's downside risk in every human action. And in the case of a strike on Iran, you know, the country could fall apart and become Libya, which is kind of a big deal given its geographic location, given its energy reserves and given the region. You could see Iran strike out at Israel, for example, to such an extent with conventional weapons that the Iron Dome, the fabled Iron Dome, does not protect Israel's two largest cities. And a lot of Israelis get killed. You could see that for sure. That's not a crazy thing to worry about. You could all see attacks against energy infrastructure in the Gulf, right across the water from Iran, the six Gulf countries that produce a lot of the world's energy, oil and gas, and you could see those taken out. That's possible. They have air defenses in their energy facilities. But how good are they? We don't know. We could find out. And if that happened, you would see an oil shock, which would lead to a global economic shock of unknown proportions. But that's never good in Greenland. What are the downsides of taking Greenland? Well, you establish a precedent that if I have the power, I get to take what I want. That's always been enforced. That's human nature. We've constructed a kind of elaborate series of rules, theoretical rules, designed to pretend that's not true and to mitigate it to some extent over the last 80 years. But really that's always been true and always will be true. But. But that's a pretty tough game once you write the rules that if someone can take something because they want it, it's okay. You have to live with them. NATO will effectively be done. How can you have a defensive alliance when one member acts against another? Probably can't. NATO is going out anyway. Is it really bad that NATO's going away? No. It's a huge victory for the world and for the United States. But it's going to be tough for its many employees and for the entire infrastructure of foreign policy thinkers, such as they are in Washington and Brussels and throughout Europe. They're going to have to face the reality that this is not a real thing anymore. If NATO was real, then the US wouldn't have taken Greenland. So there's that, apparently, a downside. And then in Venezuela, the downside is obvious. You could have chaos, you could have a black hole, you could have a migrant crisis. Once again, the energy infrastructure could be destroyed. You could see a move against the government that we effectively left in place. Sort of weird to think that a lot of people in Washington are rooting for Delsey Rodriguez, the apparently the head of state now, who's a accolade of Hugo Chavez. But she also represents stability. And at this point, stability is what people want most. So those are the kinds of things that people who think about this stuff for a minute are concerned about. Maybe not panicked, but definitely concerned. But none of those concerns comes even close to what's happening in Eastern Europe, what's happening between Russia and Ukraine. Russia, and prepare yourselves, because this is the global headline. Russia is actively considering the use of nuclear weapons against Europe. Not against Kiev, against Europe. Specifically the UK and Germany. Just taking out the UK and Germany with nuclear weapons. That's a fact. Now, we're going to explain why we know that that's true in a moment. And at the end of this open, we're going to play an interview we did a few hours ago with a man called Sergei Karanagoff, who is a longtime political adviser to Vladimir Putin and one of the most famous public intellectuals in Russia, been around for about 35 years, advised Boris Yeltsin, you know, 30 years ago, more than 30 years ago. And in that interview he says point blank, yes, if the Ukraine war continues at this tempo for a year or two more. We speaking apparently on behalf of the Russian government, on behalf of his friend Putin, or at least someone who's very familiar with President Putin's thinking, we, Russia will eliminate the UK And Germany with nuclear weapons. Now that's a headline. No one wants to see Qatari gas wellheads blown up. No one wants to see killing of any kind or destruction of any kind, but taking out the two most important countries in Europe, both of which have big American bases, lots of American personnel, of course, international banking, Germany being the economic engine of Europe, London being the banking center of Europe, of the really of the west, along with New York. And of course, these are two ancient countries with which we have close ties, history and kinship and genetics. We're going to take them out. We're going to eliminate those countries with nuclear weapons. Saying that right into camera. So that's a pretty big story. Have you read that story? Has anyone mentioned that to you? That the most famous public intellectual in Russia, a close friend of Vladimir Putin's, exactly the same age, the two were born a month apart, have known each other a long time, is saying in public that Russia plans to use nuclear weapons against Western Europe. Russia is going to blow up the UK and Germany if things don't get resolved soon. You probably haven't heard that. It hasn't actually been on the front page of the New York Times. I don't think the Times of London has mentioned it. No one seems to be paying any attention at all to the biggest story of our lifetimes potentially. And that's very odd. And it's not just one guy who's frank friends with Putin who's saying this. If you watch carefully or not even carefully with one eye open at what Russia's been doing recently, things are changing. So Russia has publicly rewritten its nuclear strategy to include use of nuclear weapons against countries that are acting as proxies for nuclear armed powers. Now, this is kind of classic Russian bureaucratic talk, but it means that under Russian law, Russia is permitted to, by its own rules, blow up Germany, even though Germany does not have nuclear weapons. The UK supposedly does wonder whose hands they're in. But Germany does Not have nuclear weapons. And Russia has just said, no, you're fair game for a nuclear strike. And not a. So not a defensive nuclear strike like you launched at us. We're gonna launch against you. No, you keep poking us in the face and we're gonna eliminate. You said that publicly. And then last week, a week ago, think a week ago today, Russia sent hypersonic missiles into Kiev, into Kiev, Ukraine. Now, the hypersonic missiles killed probably four people. This was not an attack designed to destroy important infrastructure or to cause massive civilian casualties. This was an attack designed as a message. And the Russians just said this point blank. This was an attack designed to say, whoa, you've pushed us too far. We feel like our core interests or existential interests are threatened. And if you don't back off, the next hypersonic missile we send, against which no country has any meaningful defense, can't stop a hypersonic missile. No one has even claimed that you can. The next one will have a nuclear warhead on it and it's coming at you, Europe. So let's just think this through for a sec. Why would Russia, which is supposedly in this bitter war against Ukraine, being backstopped by NATO and the US Et cetera, et cetera, but they're fighting Ukraine over territory. Why would Russia be threatening Europe? Ah, because the Russians, whatever their faults, don't lie to themselves as aggressively as we do. And the Russians are saying out loud what is absolutely true about this war, which is it's a proxy war. It is not a war between Russia and Ukraine and it never has been. And nothing that's happened in Ukraine since the fall of The Soviet Union 35 years ago has really been about Ukraine. There has been a global scramble to control Ukraine, its land, its resources. There are other reasons people want to control Ukraine that are not directly related to land or resources, that have to with history. But in any case, non Ukrainians have been calling the shots in Ukraine for 35 years. That's what Maidan was, that's what the coup, the US backed coup was. None of this had anything to do with Ukraine. What's best for Ukraine? We're going to make Ukraine a sovereign nation. The opposite has happened. Ukraine has less sovereignty. Ukraine is more of a puppet. And Ukraine has suffered more than maybe any country on earth over the last four years.

[B]

Now.

[A]

Why? Well, we'll get into that. So the New year is here, but that does not mean you've got to overhaul your whole life. Despite claims to the contrary, you don't have to take drastic measures, make a few changes here and there, and you'll be a lot better off. And you can start with the snacks in your pantry. Now, products from standard American chip brands are, let's be honest, pretty repulsive. Filled with chemicals that make you feel heavy and bloated. They don't even taste that good. They're not good for you. We recommend an upgrade with Masa Chips. Masa is the easiest way to eat clean without feeling like you're on a diet. The chips contain three ingredients. That's it. Organic corn, sea salt, 100% grass fed beef, tallow, and that is it. No seed oils, no mystery chemicals, just food, actual food. And they're amazing. And you feel great after. You don't feel weighed down. We particularly enjoyed the cobanero flavor lately, but they're all great. You want to give them a try? Visit masachhips.com M A S A chips.com Tucker use the code Tucker for 25% off your first order. Or you can click the link in the video description or you can scan the QR code to claim this outstanding offer. And if you don't feel like ordering online, you can buy them nationwide at your local Sprout supermarket. Stop by and pick up a couple of bags before somebody else does. We're excited to tell you about a new project from Amazon, MGM called Melania From. For years, the people in charge have tried to tell you who she is, but they didn't show you who she is. Now you can see for yourself every protocol, every precaution, every single move. Meticulously coordinated, this new film takes you inside the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration. And it does it through the eyes of the First Lady, Melania Trump. The briefings, the plannings, the private conversations. Witness what it takes to get there to become first lady of the United States. Mark your calendars. Melania premieres in theaters January 30th.

[B]

America the Best to ever do it.

[A]

We landed on the moon and invented the microchip. Now, with China outspending us 2 to 1 in the race for fusion, we can't wait. Our jobs, our communities, and our national security depend on American energy.

[B]

And when we go all in, we win. It's what we do. So tell President Trump and Congress to.

[A]

Deliver a new era of American greatness. Fund fusion. Make America first again.

[B]

Paid for by Built For America.

[A]

But first, just to show you how completely this war is being controlled from the outside on behalf of outside non Ukrainian interests for reasons that have nothing to do with what's good for Ukraine. I Want to show you the following clip and by the way, if you just want to prove the point, how many Ukrainians have been killed in this war? Paid for by the west, paid for by NATO in the United Joe Biden, no one knows. Hundreds of thousands. Obviously it's depopulated the country, but nobody cares. And you would think that if we're waging a war on behalf of the freedom seeking people of Ukraine, if we love the Ukrainians so much that we're willing to send them hundreds of billions of dollars and our best CIA targeters and willing to put biolabs in their country to defend them from Russian aggression, you would think if we love them that much, we might keep a tally of how many of them have been killed in the prime of life on the flat landscape of Ukraine. But of course, no one's keeping score because nobody cares. The people running this war on the western side have zero interest in what it costs Ukraine, none, because it was never about them in the first place. And now to the promised clip. This was shot about 10 years ago. We just saw it and it's amazingly instructive. Piece of videotape. Now you will see and you will recognize immediately the Hungarian man on the left. That would be Mr. George Soros, one of the world's most successful financiers. I think, as he's euphemistically described, a guy who's bet against national currencies, really done nothing to make the world a better place or to improve the lives of individuals, has only sown chaos and hatred and violence really for the length of his professional life, for whatever reason, whatever motive might be animating him, he is on the left. On the right is a woman called Christia Freeland. Now, she's not Ukrainian either. She's from Canada. She's from Alberta, Canada. She spent the bulk of her career as a journalist working for Reuters and other news organizations, news organizations like that, both in London and in Washington, where we spent quite a bit of time with her. And then she became the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada under Justin Trudeau and an economic poobah. And if you're interested in how well she did well, you can just look up facts about the current state of the Canadian economy now. Not very well. But here's the interesting thing. Just recently, Chrystia Freeland, who again is not a product of you, she didn't grow up in Ukraine, she grew up in Canada and lived in London and Washington. Christian Freeland is somehow working for President unelected President Zelensky in Ukraine. Who himself is not really that Ukrainian, grew up speaking Russian. He's a citizen of the world like she is, like they all are. But she's now an unpaid economic advisor to Ukraine. Unpaid. Right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

They're divvying up the natural resources of a country they know will soon collapse with no regard for the people who've been killed, of course. But here is Christian Freeland and George Soros 10 years ago talking about Ukraine and in so doing, giving the game away. Watch this. Yeah. And I will just offer my own personal testimony here. It's actually amazing. In Ukraine, the new Ukrainian government, the new Ukrainian leadership, everyone who I know in that group has been touched somehow by open society and by Georgia. Like literally, either people personally got a scholarship or someone, you know, their wife got a scholarship. It's a really remarkable thing.

[B]

Well, this is for me, quite an experience to see this. And I didn't realize actually how much, how big an effect it has had over a 25 year period because those were students. 25 years later, they were leaders.

[A]

Everybody she knows in Ukrainian leadership says Christopher, everybody has taken money from George Soros or their wives have taken money from George Soros. Everyone running the country is actually employed by this Hungarian billionaire who's got nothing to do with the country. Oh, no one would admit that now that's a conspiracy theory. But George Soros smiled and took credit for it. Of course, we had no idea how successful we were. Successful at what? What was the plan here? You put everybody in a country's leadership on your payroll. To what end? What were you trying to achieve? Well, I guess we could debate what Soros motives were at the time, but we don't need to because as we know, the purpose of a system is its outcome over time. We don't have to guess about why certain people or certain organizations exist. We can instead look at what they do. We can judge the tree by its fruit. And the current state of Ukraine was clearly the point all along. Destroy the country, depopulate it. Change the laws that prevent foreigners from buying its natural resources. It's a land, some of the most fertile farmland in the world, huge tracts of it. It's an enormous country. It's the biggest country in Europe, also the weakest and the most corrupt. Many people doing this had ancestors in Ukraine. So there very much is a sense that, wait a second, you know, this is ours too. Christopher Freeland had ancestors from Ukraine. A lot of people involved in making policy about Ukraine had ancestors in Ukraine. And so there is a kind of entitlement that you see on display. No, no, this is an interest. Of course we have a right to weigh in on this, but not for the benefit of the Ukrainians. Really, all of this is about taking what once belonged to the country they claim they loved and using that country in order to defeat its much larger neighbor. Which is the real prize? Russia. And this has been true for over a hundred years, for hundreds of years. How many times have Europeans tried to invade Russia? A few. Napoleon tried. Why does everyone want to invade Russia? It's far away, it's freezing. No one ever succeeds in doing it. It's like Afghanistan or Yemen. Not a long track record of victory if outside forces taking control. There are a few peoples around the world that are tough to beat, history suggests, and the Russians are at the top of that list. So why do people keep trying? Well, in a word, resources. That's why Russia is unimaginably large. Literally, unimaginably. Most people in the west haven't imagined how large Russia is. Russia is larger than China and India put together. You combine the land mass of China, so big you can barely get your head around it, and India, almost as big, and together they're smaller than Russia. Siberia itself is about the size of. Of the continental United States. And there are like 10 million people living there in all of Russia. There are about 140 million, something like that, in all of Russia. Meanwhile, Russia has the deepest energy reserves in the world, some of the highest uranium enrichment in the world. It has, by some measures, the most gold in the world. Silver, bauxite for aluminum, timber, by far the largest timber reserves in the world, which people still need, by the way. Pulp for paper, dimensional lumber for building. People still need trees. And Russia has more than any other place, primarily in Siberia, but not just in Siberia. And of course, farmland and agricultural products, fertilizer, wheat. Russia has as much or more than anyone and very few people. So the promise of access to Russian resources and space and land has been a siren that has called invaders for centuries. And no judgment, by the way. You can see why. If Greenland is a prize, what is Russia? The biggest prize of all. And you saw this attitude on display the moment the wall fell. And repeat, repatriate foreigners, mostly bankers, moved into Russia and stripped it. And they were helped along by a lot of unscrupulous indigenous Russians. It wasn't just outsiders who did it. Some Russian oligarchs did it to their own people. But the fact is, a small group of people denuded the country, looted it. And unfortunately, this always plays out in exactly the same way. It's not enough to loot. You have to take everything and drive everyone else into despair, hopelessness and poverty. And that's exactly what happened. When we started this company. We promised that we would only partner with other companies that share our values. We didn't want to advertise products made by people who hate us, or for that matter, you. So with that in mind, it is a pleasure to announce that we're working with Charity Mobile. It is a pro life phone company. Charity Mobile holds a view on abortion that almost every single major US Company disagrees with. They think it's completely wrong. It is sad, and celebrating it is one of the darkest things this country has ever done. We agree completely. So when you switch your cell phone service to this American company, they'll donate a percentage of your monthly price plan to a pro life pro family charity that you choose. There's no better way to prove what their real values are than doing that. No one would do that unless they meant it. All their plans are under 50 bucks and you can keep your existing number and your existing phone if it's compatible. Charity Mobile is a pro life company serving pro life customers and supporting pro life causes, and has done it for more than 30 years. Visit charitymobile.comtucker use promo code Tucker to get a free phone with free activation, free shipping, and a free gift with every new line of service. The new year brings new health goals and wealth goals. Protecting your identity is an important step. Your info is in endless places that could expose you to identity theft, leading to lost funds. LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second. If your identity is stolen, our restoration specialists will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Resolve to make identity, health and wealth part of your new Year's goals with Lifelock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply so the new year is here, but that does not mean you've got to overhaul your whole life. Despite claims to the contrary, you don't have to take drastic measures. Make a few changes here and there and you'll be a lot better off. And you can start with the snacks in your pantry. Now. Products from standard American chip brands are, let's be honest, pretty repulsive. Filled with chemicals that make you feel heavy and bloated. They don't even taste that good. They're not good for you. We recommend an upgrade with Masa chips. Masa is the easiest way to eat clean without feeling like you're on a diet. The chips contain three ingredients that's organic corn, sea salt, 100% grass fed beef, towel, and that is it. No seed oils, no mystery chemicals, just food, actual food. And they're amazing. And you feel great after. You don't feel weighed down. We particularly enjoyed the Cobonro flavor lately. But they're all great. You want to give them a try, visit masachips.com M A S A chips.com Tucker use the code Tucker for 25% off your first order. Or you can click the link in the video description or you can scan the QR code to claim this outstanding offer. And if you don't feel like ordering online, you can, you can buy them nationwide at your local sprout supermarket. Stop by and pick up a couple of bags before somebody else does. Russia 30 years ago, 35 years ago, is one of the most, certainly the poorest country west of. I don't know who even knows. I mean, Bhutan, really poor and divided and sad and defeated and alcoholism and drug use and gasoline huffing and suicide were endemic. And who did that? Well, the Russians to some extent did it to themselves. You know, they were living in this Soviet system for 70 years. But outsiders did it to him too. That's a fact. And whatever you think of Putin, he's bad. Putin got that under control. And Russia in 2026 bears no resemblance whatsoever to Russia in 2000, the year Putin took over. And one of the main changes he made is he kicked the money changers out of the temple. He did. Sorry, everyone else has forgotten. That ignores it. He kicked the oligarchs out or he brought him to his side. You can't act independently of the national interest. You can become a billionaire, but some of it has to go to the country. And that was spun in the west as cartel behavior. He's the mafia boss. Okay, fine, he's the mafia boss. But the real answer to the question, did it work or not? Is obvious not just in the numbers, but in the state of the country, the visible state of the country now versus 25 years ago. It's a completely different place. It's no longer Bhutan. It's not Africa. By some measures, it's much richer than any country in Western Europe. In fact, by every measure, it is. By every single measure. Is it richer than Spain? Is it richer than the uk? Oh, yeah, much so that is both tempting to elites from around the world. Wait a second. Why do 140 million Russians get all this stuff? We should have some too. But it is also an indictment of their leadership. If you're Boris Johnson and Your ancestors ruled the waves, ruled the British Empire, and your country is a kind of sad Urdu speaking museum. Now that's insulting, really. The Russians, those weird half Slavic, I mean, they dominate world chess, but like really, they're not really white. And how are they doing so well? This is outrageous. It is an indictment of your own leadership. And in countries across Europe, the leaders feel that way. Russia is an embarrassment to them because it is, relatively speaking, thriving. And so they all as one. Back to the Biden administration's plan to have a war with Russia. And let's stop lying. This was not an unprovoked invasion. Putin just randomly went over the line into eastern Ukraine and stole these oblasts. He stole this land that belonged to another people. That's a total lie. And it's not a defensive Putin to call it out as a lie, because it is and everybody knows it. Now, the truth is that in 2001, Putin, same guy, same leader, asked the Bush administration in person directly to George W. Bush, I would like to join NATO. I would like to join the defensive alliance that exists to keep me from moving west into Western Europe. In other words, you won, I'm joining your team. And due in part to his own limitations as a leader and due in part to the counsel that he received from Condoleezza Rice at the time, George W. Bush turned down that offer and prevented Russia from joining NATO. And the guest we're going to speak to in a moment, if you're wondering if he has a good track record of calling future events, said at the time, this decision to turn down Vladimir Putin's is 25 years ago, Vladimir Putin's request to join NATO, to join the west, to all be in it together, to work together, this decision made by the Bush administration guarantees a collision with the West. We are now on a collision course. And of course he was absolutely right. Because NATO didn't want Russia, because NATO wanted a war with Russia. And boy, they got it. And so from 2001 all the way to 20, 22, 21 years, NATO moved inexorably east surrounding Russia. And many times, again, this is not a defense of Russia, it's just a fact. Many times the Russian government under Putin said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You are threatening our core national interest, which is not to have other people's missiles on our borders back off. And then in 2014, the Obama administration overthrew the government of Ukraine to put an American puppet in there, thereby sealing the fate of nations. When that happened, and Sergei Karaganov said it at the time, you have just guaranteed a war in Ukraine that will destroy Ukraine. So as you listen to the interview, and we hope you listen carefully because the English is not flawless and it was done over satellite from Moscow. So it's not the best audio, but it's worth listening. That man that you're going to hear has a long track record of calling events right. And it's not to detract from his powers of perception or his intellect, which is formidable to say other people could have drawn the same conclusions because it's pretty freakin obvious if you exclude Russia from NATO, you're probably seeking a war with Russia. And if you try to put nuclear armed missiles on Russia's border, you're probably going to get a military response. That's exactly what he said. And of course he was laughed at in Europe where he'd spent a lot of his life and he was totally ignored by the United States. And our policymakers were on to this, that or the other thing. They were not paying any attention at all. And to the extent they were, they were very excited for this war with Russia and they never really explained why. And then once that war began four years ago, they began to act through their proxy, the Ukrainian government under Zelensky. Truly a proxy in a war that has been managed from day one, in part by the CIA. Our CIA targeting by the CIA. Anyone tells you that's not true is lying. They begin to act with not just recklessness, but extreme recklessness. The kind of behavior that suggests you don't care about the consequences at all, you're just all in actually at some point. The kind of behavior that suggests a death wish. That suggests like I actually want a nuclear holocaust. I'm happy to risk the lives of my family, my nation and the world in a nuclear exchange. And we know that because of what they did, they blew up Nord Stream, which was the main source of natural gas for Europe. So that did two things. One, it destroyed the European economy. That was obviously going to happen and it did. Because you can't have a robust economy, certainly in a manufacturing economy without cheap energy, without cheap energy, you're left with what? Real estate and finance. And of course the people making these decisions are familiar only with real estate and finance because that's the world they live in. But in the real world, countries become rich and powerful and stable and resilient because they make things. That's the first thing. We blew up Nord Stream, so that destroys our supposedly closest allies in Europe, particularly in Germany. Germans hate themselves so much they won't Even admit that we did it. But we did it through proxies. But we did it as we said we would. And the second thing that it did is send a very clear message to Russia. We're done. We're not going to have a kind of Vietnam scenario where we have a proxy war, but, you know, there are limits to our behavior. Yeah, we'll spray Agent Orange, but we're not actually gonna, you know, level Hanoi. We bomb it on the edges, but we're, you know, there. There are limits to what we're gonna do because we don't actually want to war with the Soviets. American and NATO behavior since the beginning of this war suggests there are no limits at all. Blowing up Russian infrastructure, trying to assassinate Putin repeatedly. They lie about it, but yes, they have. Yes, they have. The Ukrainian government has tried to assassinate Vladimir Putin multiple times. Has the CIA assisted with the targeting of those drones? Yes, obviously. Tell me how you didn't. No one's even asked them. You don't need to be an economist to see what's happening. The dollar is in trouble. It's getting weaker. It's sad, but we're not in charge of it. So we have to respond appropriately in ways to protect our families. When paper money dies, it's going to be replaced by programmable digital currency, or gold. Gold survives. The same Americans who think they're protecting themselves with gold are the ones getting ripped off by big gold dealers. After we left corporate media, we got offered tens of millions of dollars to promote gold companies. How'd they get the money to spend that much on marketing? Because they're scamming their customers. We didn't want anything to do with that, so we sought an honest broker. And together we formed a precious metals company that you can actually trust. It's called battalion metals. At battalionmetals.com we publish actual spot prices. We're totally transparent about the vig, what we take, and we treat everyone with honesty. So if you've been watching what's happening, you know it's not just about money. It's about sovereignty and holding something that endures and cannot be manipulated or taken from you. So if you've been waiting for the right time to act, this is it. Visit battalion medals.com and again, it's not taking sides against the United States with Russia. No, it's trying to think clearly about what are the potential consequences of this kind of behavior. Torquing it up consistently over four years to a point where you've cornered a great power. Oh, but that's the problem. They don't consider Russia a great power. They're not a great power. You know what Russia is? Russia's a gas station with nuclear weapons. Watch this. I think economic sanctions are a very important step.

[B]

Identify these kleptocrats.

[A]

And look, Russia is a gas station.

[B]

Masquerading as a country.

[A]

It is a wounded and declining nation. It has an uncompetitive economy. Senator McCain used to joke that Russia is a gas station pretending to be a country. Its declining population, of course, contributes to its decline.

[B]

What's your view of Putin?

[A]

Look, I think he's got grand ambitions. I think he's hostile to the United States. But I think the thing that we've seen is he doesn't have the conventional capability to realize his ambitions. And so he's basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons. If the President could rally the world to push back against Russian aggression and really hit them economically, have sanctions that hit really hard, then Putin is basically a gas station masquerading as a country. There's really nothing more embarrassing. And as someone who knows, all four of the men you just saw say that, you pause and you think, we are a great nation. This is the United States. We're a great nation, and we should be led. In particular, policies that matter, that could determine whether your children live or die, should be led by great men, men with wisdom, above all restraint, a sense of longitudinal interest. It matters what this looks like in a hundred years. That should be part of the calculation and knowledge and lived experience. And none of those four men you just saw, all four of whom have been major players in formulating US Foreign policy over many decades, none of them meet any of those criteria. These are weak, unwise. In the case of John McCain, though, very charming, I will say. Low IQ people. True. That's just true. They don't know anything. So you could say, everything about Russia I found repulsive. Everything about it defends my sensibilities as an American. That's fine. People feel that way. But you can't dismiss it as a gas station with nuclear weapons because that reveals you as ignorant. Because it's the opposite of that. Of course, on a cultural level, the country that produced Tolstoy and Dostoevsky more than a gas station. But it also suggests that you are doing the one thing you can never do with an adversary, and that's underestimate his power and resilience. You have to see the people you're in conflict with clearly, or you will get hurt. That's the real risk here not just you'll act like the ugly American. You're a buffoon. There are gas stations with nuclear weapons. What a clever line. I heard that from my donor. I'm going to repeat it on Meet the Press, which is exactly what the poor Desantis doesn't know anything was doing. Trying to sound statesmanlike. Oh, I just heard this. Well, gas station nuclear weapons. So good, you know, you reveal that you're just a rube, go back to Orlando. But it's more than that. You can wind up way over your head. And we are now way over our heads because of that attitude. Lindsey Graham, who to his credit, has been around. He's been everywhere. Lindsey Graham has still not picked up the. The one quality you hope that travel instills in a person, which is wisdom. Zero. And there's a particularly sad line at the end of the clip you just saw from Lindsey Graham where he said, if just we can make our sanctions tough enough, we just need tough sanctions that will bring Russia to its knees. Well, we did that, actually. But who got brought to his knees? Was it Russia? No, it was not. It was us. One of the saddest things this country's ever done is sabotaged its own currency over time. But if you were to isolate a moment where the US Dollar's future became dim, it would have to be in the Biden administration's immediate response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That was the moment that we kicked Russia out of swift. We just stole the personal property of people who didn't work for the Russian government. The so called oligarchs, which just means businessmen, just took their stuff because they had Russian names and prevented Russians from playing in international sporting events. You can't be at Wimbledon. There's an OV at the end of your name or whatever. So we humiliated ourselves, of course, by behaving. Who behaves like that? But we also sabotaged our own core interest, which is the maintenance of the US dollars, the world's reserve currency. That's the key thing that we have. It's not our manufacturing base that makes us rich. Sorry, wish it was. It's the US Dollars, the privilege of holding the currency that say energy transactions are conducted in. Everyone has to use dollars. It's called the petrodollar. Been there since 1971. You tamper with that and the bills come due and you become poor. And then all the downstream effects of poverty, which include violence, by the way, and chaos. That was the single most unwise thing any administration has done in my lifetime. 56 years that was the dumbest thing, that was most self destructive thing. So what was gold trading at? Do you remember? If you got a phone in your hand right now, look it up. What was gold trading at? Just say February 1, 2022. 1700 bucks an ounce, which is high. Was, was high. You check gold prices to the spot price of gold Today it's about $4,600 per ounce. Has the S and P grown that much in four years? No. Has anything? No. Why gold? Is there some new industrial application for gold? No. There are some, but not really. People are buying gold as an option to the US dollar. Gold is what you buy when you want out of the dollar because you don't believe it has a bright future. You dump your treasuries and you buy gold. And the people who actually understand the system because they made it and participated in it and are its biggest players are doing that. China is doing that now. Why in 2026 would you dump treasuries, which they have a lot of treasuries and buy gold? The most primitive medium of exchange like the Assyrians use gold. Gold. Only superstitious people buy gold. Not making the case that there's some inherent quality in gold that makes it valuable. I'm making the case that compared to what you're doing that because you believe the US dollar is unsafe. And why do you believe that? Because the U.S. government just used it as a political weapon against a great power. That's why. Anybody could have figured this out. And the second thing that happened almost immediately is that Russia formed a durable alliance with China. Now think about this for a second. Donald Trump, to his great credit, used to say this. The worst thing Biden ever did was drive Russia into an alliance with China. Why is that the worst thing? Because here you have the largest economy in the world, which is China, and you have the largest resource density in the world and the biggest country in the world, which is Russia, combining against you. So I think by anybody's count there are four really kind of major players in our near to long term future globally and they are the us. Russia, it's more than a gas station with nuclear weapons. Sorry. India and China. Now who knows where India is going to land. But if you've got Russia and China against you, it's tough. That's only not unipolar. That's like an actual threat to your interests. That's it. That's an actual threat to your. Don't, don't allow that. The reason Richard Nixon flew to Beijing 50 years ago. 55 years ago and met with Chairman Mao, who, by the way, was a lot more of a monster than Putin's ever thought of being, was not a Christian, Unlike Putin, killed 100 million of his own people. Richard Nixon flew there anyway and, quote, opened up China, made an alliance with China. Why? To split it from Russia, because he understood that was the threat. The block, the alliance of countries that don't share our interest is a massive threat to us and to the dollar. He did that. And it worked for like 50 years until Joe Biden, with the help of the US Congress, probably the largest collection of unwise cowards in the English speaking world, got together and decided that they could levy sanctions against this country, which they deemed bad for reasons they never really explained except Russia reacted to their provocations and went over a border that no one can find on a map. Because of that, we needed to act and do something because we're Winston Churchill, not Neville Chamberlain, and everything's about World War II and we need to stop Russian aggression. By the way, we were on Russia's side during World War II, but. Shut up. You're not supposed to know that. And we're going to punish them. Not by actually joining the Ukrainian military and putting our lives on the line, because, hey, we've got better things to do than go die in someone else's war. But we're going to sanction them. Very tough sanctions, despite the living proof that not only do sanctions not work, they are counterproductive to the stated aims. And if that's untrue, what happened in Cuba. Exactly. Which got sanctioned in about 1960. Oh, Raul Castro was still alive and still has power in that country. The country's gotten poorer. Don't think Raul Castro has. They don't work. They have the opposite effect. And by the way, they are dishonorable and feline. They're a weak man's form of diplomacy. When Lindsey Graham is running around pretending to be tough, the man with the size 5 shoe is telling you he's the man on the scene. You know, what you're watching is pantomime. It's acting. You're watching a weak man pose as a strong man, and the decisions that he makes reflect that. That's why they all love sanctions. But in this case, in this specific case, sanctions shafted the United States. And I think it's worth saying that out loud. So our grandchildren, looking back on this time and asking, why don't we live like our grandparents did, can assign appropriate blame. Sanctions did not punish Vladimir Putin. They punished the United States. And they completely destroyed Europe, which is where our ancestors came from and where religion comes from. So it's not a small thing, but they didn't work. And by the way, neither did the military action that we spent hundreds of millions of dollars paying for in Ukraine. A military action that was never designed to liberate Ukraine, but to beat Russia. Russia, whatever that means. How can you beat a cohesive, ancient empire? Probably can't. When this country was founded 250 years ago, Russia was an empire. It's not like us, okay? Russia will be here. We know that, whether you like it or not. So deal with it in a constructive way. But they couldn't. And so once the war got rolling and it became really, really clear that we had lost. Oh, we haven't lost. What are you, a Putin puppet? Okay, really simple metric. Putin rolls across the border into Ukraine. Ukraine, really? Just like a satellite of the United States in the Biden administration, but rolls into this supposedly different country, and we can't get them out, no matter how many hundreds of millions of dollars we send them and how many bio labs we have there. No matter how many threats CIA officers we send over there to do the targeting of the drones. Still there. And they're not leaving. So what does that leave you with? Well, again, I would refer you to. Not the smartest foreign policy strategist we have, but certainly the most cable friendly, Lindsey Graham. Watch this. How does this end? Somebody in Russia has to step up to the plate. Is there Brutus in Russia? Is there more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends, my friend, is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country a great service and the world a great service. I'm hoping somebody in Russia will understand that. He's destroying Russia, and you need to take this guy out by any means possible.

[B]

Yeah, I hope he'll be taken out one way or the other.

[A]

I don't care how they take him out. I don't care if we send him to the Hague and try him. I just want him to go. Yes, I'm on record. Please understand, Senator Lindsey Graham. And if John McCain were here, he'd be saying the same thing. I think it's time for him to go. He's a war criminal. I wish somebody had taken Hitler out in the 30s. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Do you really want to call for the extrajudicial murder of another head of state? Is that a precedent you want to live with? Probably not. Actually, probably not. And if you're a country that believes in the rule of law, pretty shocking thing, really, for a lawmaker to say, well, just assassinate them. It's just a tool of foreign policy. No, we're not Israel. We don't conduct foreign policy through assassination. Actually, we shouldn't. Apparently, now we do. Is that okay with people? You don't like someone, so you just kill them. If those are the rules, we will have to live with those rules. And you don't need a particularly powerful imagination to envision how that ends, and not well at all. So if you're going to be a beacon of freedom, be one and call the just to account. And don't punish the innocent. Which is why sanctions are not only ineffective, but also immoral. But moreover, if you're waging a war against a country, and we've been at war with Russia for four years, despite what the liars tell you, we have been at war with Russia for four years, probably not a good idea to admit that you're losing on television, which is what Lindsey Graham just did. We have no choice but to take him out. And third, it's probably unwise to admit that you know nothing about the country, that. That you are fighting, that you're obsessed with. Taking Putin out will solve the problem. Putin is an absolute dictator. He's dictatorial, that's for sure. He probably wouldn't want to walk by the Kremlin and give him the finger. He'd probably be punished for that. But does he have absolute control over Russia? Does any leader of any country ever have absolute control over the country? Did Stalin know? He consulted with the constituencies in his country. They all do. Every one of them. Our president, every amir in the Gulf, every king, sultan, potentate, head of the ccp. Everyone's got a board of directors in this world. Everyone. And Putin is no different. And Putin, again, like every head of state, is balancing a bunch of different shareholders every single day. Get the fsb and then divisions within the fsp. Got the military, you got the business community, the oligarchs, as we call them, very different from our oligarchs, who are Just Tech CEOs. They're oligarchs, but everyone's got a piece of this enterprise they call Russia. And everyone gets to say. And no head of state acts unilaterally. So the idea that you take Russia out and everyone just gives up, oh, Putin's gone. We can, I don't know, turn it over to Zelinsky is ridiculous. And only someone who didn't understand how the world works would say something like that. So what's the point? The point is exactly what we've seen in a lot of other countries. Iraq, Syria, you hope, not Iran. But likely cause chaos. Because in chaos I can dominate and I can steal. And the people who are paying me to have these views, a lot of them were exiled Russian oligarchs who Putin kicked out, could get back in there and scoop up the resources. There's no reason Putin should control all the bauxite in Russia or whatever, all the oil, all the gas, all the gold. We should so create chaos in this country, the biggest country on Earth with 150 million people in the largest nuclear arsenal. And I'll get rich. And even if you signed up for that program, which you shouldn't because it's disgusting, but let's say you did think that was a good idea, part of your reptile brain would start beeping, red alert, alert, alert. That's really reckless because I can't control what happens next. There are too many nuclear weapons in this country. They have massive military industrial power. They make a lot of weapons, they make a lot of steel. They have a lot of cheap energy. This is a real place and it's got a huge Muslim population, 20%. And they're kind of peaceful now. Will they be? These are the kind of things an adult would ask himself before calling to knock off a head of state. You could destroy the world. But they haven't asked themselves those things because they don't care. And above all, they are unfit for leadership of the West. And that includes our foreign policy establishment. And it includes virtually head, every single head of state in Europe. And for that, they are on the cusp of being eliminated, literally. And I'll just speak for myself and say I really hope that doesn't happen. Yes, Keir Starmer's a joke. Of course, he's an insult to our ancestors. If you're English, he's an insult to our ancestors and to that nation. Of course, Macron is ridiculous. Germany, but you want to see them destroyed. And according to Sergey Karnakov, they're very close to being so with that. Watch this interview and ask yourself, why is this not on the front page of every paper? Why is this not on the lips of every European and every American? Because it's entirely wrong.

[B]

Real.

[A]

Here's the interview. Mr. Karanov, thank you very much for joining us. How do you believe this war will end?

[B]

This war could and should be ended. Not only when Russia achieves total defeat of Europe hopefully without eliminating Europe. We are fighting not Ukraine, not Zelensky and the like. We are fighting again there Europe, which has been the source of all ills and all sources of evil in the history of humanity. Of two world wars, Europe has been several times invading us. Last time it was openly in the 41, 45 and 90%. 95% of European countries came here under the banners of Hitler. Now, unbelievably, after all their defeats, they haven't learned the question, the lesson. There's two pushing for a big war. I think. I mean the reason is obviously that it's total failure of what the European elites. But so when we talk about the end of this war, it's not about, I mean, doing away with war in Ukraine, with the source of this war. And that is the evil Europe, which by the way sucked United States several times into war and which have been the source of the worst things in the history of humanity, including of course world wars, including racism, colonialism and many other bad things, including now they have been the main source of the posthuman values which they have been exporting. I mean, they partly polluted the United States. So now we are fighting that they tried to pollute them. I'm not speaking about all Europe. I mean there are many decent people and even countries there. But the question is that Europe is returning back to where it used to be during the last 500 years and that is the source of all evil in the history of humanity.

[A]

So what does it look like to defeat Europe? The war can't end until Russia defeats Europe. You said what does that mean?

[B]

For the time being we are thinking about a piecemeal deal, about an arc which has been offered by President Trump in good faith over again until the will of European elites is not to continue confrontation for the sake of saving themselves from. The all covering up for the old mistakes they have done. That war will not stop. So I'm earthly skeptical as to the short time possibilities of a piecemeal deal. However, of course if we achieve something along the road and people will start to be killed, well, the opportunity should be used. But I'm pretty sure that their problem is much deeper and it is not Ukraine, it is not the landscape and whomever it is, that Europe is again returning to its worst and that is that is the source of all evil in the history of humanity.

[A]

Why do you think? I mean, I think from an American perspective, it's very obvious that European leaders are focused on Russia in the big countries, Germany, France, Great Britain. The leadership of all Three countries is focused on Russia as the threat. Why do you think that is?

[B]

No, it is very simple. I mean, I'm a founder of Europe and I used to be a Europhile 40 years ago. And then I learned them better and I became highly skeptical. They are complete failures on all counts. I mean moral, political, economic, etc. Europe is going down also. They are unable now to exploit the world and to suck the rent from the world which they have been getting due to their military preponderance over last 500 years. And that was stopped in the 60s and 70s and they got into a deep crisis already. But at that time, I mean, for all kinds of reasons, Soviet Union collapsed and they believed that the golden age would continue. But now then the center of this golden age is finished and they are desperate. They understand that they could not leave on others money. Also they start to understand that they could not live on the cushion of US protection because US is tired of them and they don't need it anymore. So there's a total desperation of this layer of globalist, quote unquote, liberal European elites. Also there, by the way, process of anti meritocracy. I mean, never in history of Europe have we had such a low level of intellectual capacities in the leadership of most European countries. Not of all, but almost.

[A]

So Europe is basically out of gas, it's out of. It's out of energy, it's dying. And so you're arguing that their leadership sees a defeat of Russia as the only way back.

[B]

Continuation of. At first they thought of a possibility of a defeat of Russia, which was, I mean, kind of a fantastic collusion, but still some people, because of their intellectual quote unquote incapacity or they are talking about that. What is defeat of Russia? Just if Russia comes ever close to a defeat, that would mean that Russia now would use nuclear weapons and the Europe will be finished physically. So I mean, it's simply impossible even to think about it. But they have been talking because they need a war to rationalize their stay in power, to rationalize their existence. And it is not about even defeat of Russia now. It is simply keeping on with the. With the failing European Union, with a failing economy, with fading European positions in the world. Everybody in the world now laughs at Europe, which used to be, by the way, one of the core centers of world power. Now it's a joke, of course. I'm not speaking of all Europe. We know that there are decent Europeans. There are smart Europeans though, in my class, political class of European thinkers. And you are on foreign policy and defense, etc. Etc. There's only one or two men or persons left. I wouldn't name them because that would jeopardize them in the eyes of the audience, but nobody else. I do not have any interlocutor, almost any interlocutor in Europe anymore.

[A]

When you say everyone knows that the Russian government, if pressed, would use nuclear weapons against Europe, you mean that is my question. And do you think that the Europeans understand that?

[B]

Europeans, because they have been first of all intellectually degrading after their 1968 so called the Revolution which killed most of European education and because of anti meritocracy of modern European democratic system, do not understand or unable to understand what is happening fully. And also they are entertaining what I call strategic parasitism or parasitism, I don't know what to call it. They believe that war will never come to their territory. They forgot about the war. And that is terrible because they have been the source of most wars in the history of humanity. But now they are not afraid. So now one of the tasks of Russia, in addition to all others, is to bring them to census, hopefully without using nuclear weapons, only with the threat of their use. And I'm criticizing my government of being too prudent and too patient with them. But sooner or later, if they continue to support this war, sacrificing new millions of Ukrainians and others, the Russian pursuit of legendary perseverance will thin, will go thin and will have to punish them severely. Hopefully in a limited sense.

[A]

It's interesting that you say their leaders no longer fear nuclear weapons. You would think everyone would fear nuclear weapons given their destructive capacity. Why would any person not fear the threat of a nuclear attack?

[B]

Because, well, let's put this. We believe that they are like us, but they're not like us. They have had a total degradation of thinking class and of the ruling class. I mean, when Chancellor quote unquote of Germany is talking about, I mean, recreating a Buddhist fair to be the strongest army in Europe, what does that mean? That means that he dooms his country for elimination. I have been talking with Europeans through all most of my adult life. I stopped doing that in 1913 when there was a meeting of European leaders which I participated. And I said that if you continue into this your system, there will be a big war and millions of Ukrainians will die. And nobody dared to look into my eyes. There were 70 or 80 people. Most of them, you know, they have degraded to the level that they are dangerous idiots or moral idiots. Yes, most, not all of them, but most of them.

[A]

You are quoted in one place saying they no longer fear God, therefore they no longer fear war. How are those two related?

[B]

Absolutely. I mean, they lost much. Well, not all. Again, there are normal people Europe. They. I mean Europe has lost its core moral, political, spiritual core. And now they move. As you know, most of them have lost the fear. Well, the trust in God. That doesn't mean. And they lost a normal. Losing most of the traits of the human. Europe is under this leadership or under this leadership is becoming anti European in terms of historical European and even anti human. They have brought nasism, which was anti human etc. Now they have brought to us, you have been infected to less extent. Something absolute anti human. Loss of respect, those family, those love between men and women, those respect for. For seniors, those patriotism, etc, what is then Europe. And of course trust in God, what is left? I mean it is and. It is. A moral. However, of course I'm not speaking about all Europeans or are normal people. However, of course I'm not. I'm not unable to talk to them. I am not able to talk to them because they are imagined. They are forbidden to talk to us. And if they talk to us, they are then called and summoned to the police or security services. So I have a lot of still probably a lot of friends in Europe, but I do not have any contacts with them because they are banned. Because they elites from talking to us, because the elites are preparing them for war. At least morally though the same elites could not comprehend that if war, a real big war is unleashed in Europe and sooner or later this war in Ukraine which we are waging with Europeans escalates, there will be no Europe. Thanks God. We have changed our nuclear doctrine recently. And recently our president said he was very cautious and very. He's a very cautious and very polite man. But he said something very important.

[A]

Important.

[B]

He said that if Europe continues and if Europe gets into real direct conflict with Europe, it will be nobody in Europe to talk to. But I hope and I beg and I pray that he or us wouldn't have to make this decision. But as I've said before, Europe is the source of the most evils and it returns to its worst times.

[A]

Twice in the past, roughly the past year, the Ukrainians have tried to at least twice tried to kill your president. President Putin.

[B]

What?

[A]

That's my read of it. Why do you think they did that? What's the thinking there?

[B]

It is very simple. I mean, they're belligerent. I mean some people believe that you could solve the problem of Russia by killing President. Our president is. I have one, one problem with our President. He's too cautious. They did not to course, and he shows too much perseverance. I am criticizing him indirectly or sometimes even directly, as in our conversation with you. But they simply want, of course they could not kill. It's simply noble hatred of people who have lost their minds. Well, the question, of course, of doing away with leaders of foreign countries is an American question, as you know. But they are pumping up hatred towards Russia like mad. I'm partly historian, I must say that even Hitler's Germany, the level of anti Russian propaganda Russophobia was maybe, maybe, maybe we can or at least equal to what is happening in Europe.

[A]

What would happen if your president were to be assassinated by the Ukrainians or Europe or the United States? What would be the next.

[B]

Let's hope that would not happen. But then, of course that would mean that we will punish, hopefully not the United States, but Europe will be taken away from the map of the humanity. It should be pushed away from the geopolitical and geostrategic math because it is a nuisance. I hope it would not be punished in the physical way, though. I am starting to say that these idiots do not understand anything but physical pain and that sooner or later we have to go up the ladder of escalation. And if they do not stop this senseless war and hostility in, in and around Ukraine now, we would have to start to attack Europe with conventional weapons and then next step will be waves of nuclear strikes. I hope we wouldn't reach that point because they're using nuclear weapons. Any weapon is a sin, but using nuclear weapons is a double sin. And I don't want to be Russia to be that big a sinner. We have all our sins, but if needed, we have to eliminate the European threat to humanity.

[A]

How far are we from Russia using nuclear weapons against Europe?

[B]

Two years. Well, one year. Well, first of all, I've been calling on my government to escalate earlier, but President Putin is very religious and he's cautious and we have been climbing up the ladder of escalation, changing our nuclear doctrine and lowering the nuclear threshold, building up our nuclear potential in Europe and else, but in the hope that we could stop them before crossing the threshold. As I've said, I think that Putin believes that using nuclear weapons, and I believe, by the way, is a sin, but it might be a necessary sin in order to save humanity. That's why I have been calling for limited use of nuclear weapons against Europe because Otherwise the world would drift into a third World war towards which Europeans are pushing all of us. I mean, they have already done that twice in history, sucking in the United States. You a couple of times saved them. You Americans. We once suffered, but then saved them again. But now they're back and with the old game and we have to, either to punish them or to help them to change their minds. I'm not calling for regime change, but if Europeans do not change, these elites for more national oriented, for more responsible, they are don't. And I hate this idea because culturally I am a European. Of course we are moving towards Siberia, moving towards this. We are saying, and sincerely that we are becoming a Eurasian nation or turning back to where we belong, to become the Eurasian nation. But the loss of Europe would be a pity.

[A]

Before I ask you about what you think Russia should do relative to the rest of the world, become Eurasian rather than European, which it seems to be doing. If there were nuclear strikes from Russia into Europe in the next year or two, as you said, there may be, what countries would that include?

[B]

Well, online. So I have written that several times that if we strike Poznan, Americans would never respond. Americans would never respond anyway. But if we. But, and I hope the polls are becoming, by the way, more specific, invincible. They understand that they are playing with fire. They're trying to retreat from the front lines of this conflict. But my choice would be Britain and Germany.

[A]

You take out Britain and Germany with.

[B]

Nuclear weapons, I beg our almighty, that wouldn't happen. Yes, but Germany should be the first, because Germany is the source of the worst in the European history. But I hope again, I have many German friends. I hope that.

[A]

You'Ve, I think, just came back from Beijing. Certainly the ties between Russia and China are much, much deeper than they were four years ago. From an American perspective, the idea of a permanent Russia China alliance is a threat to our future, it would seem. Is that alliance permanent?

[B]

Well, for the time being, for the foreseeable future. It is a source of great strength both to Russia and to China. And our Chinese friends understand that. But what will happen in 10 to 15 years, we do not know. So plenty for all kind of futures. But our best solution is to reach a world where four great powers will be working together for defining, I mean, the rules of behavior in the future world. These four powers are China, Russia, United States and India. And that kind of confederation configuration also means that we will, and we should, and we will of course, balance the overall preponderance of China vis a vis Russia. But at this juncture China is a fantastic asset. It is not a threat. But just in case, we should create this at least 4 countries system. Plus we are building what we call Greater Eurasia. And that is a system of relationship where China will be balanced by major powers within Eurasia, including India, Persia, Turkey and Russia and others. But the Chinese, I mean we talk with them sincerely about necessity to, to balance them there. It is hard for them to solve that, but they're starting to understand that it is in their interest to create a balanced system of relationship within Eurasia, but worldwide. United States should be a key player because without United States, we will not succeed in dealing with the unbelievable problems we are facing in the coming years.

[A]

Does Russia jeopardize its soul by leaving the west? Given that it's a Orthodox country, its cultural legacy is owns Western.

[B]

We are saving our soul. I mean, of course some of my compatriots would not agree with me, but let us remind you and me and others that our soul came from the east and from the South. We took Christianity from Palestine and Orthodox Church is the true Christianity. Because Catholics left at the beginning of the previous millennium. We parted with them, but still, of course we are Christians and we're brothers. We are very much an Islamic country, 20% of our population. We also take it from, from the south. Then we have a strong Buddhist population will also take it from the southeast. And Judaism is also here an acknowledged religion. And the political system which we have built over years, we have inherited from the greatest empire of them all, from Genghisan Empire. But of course many Russia would disagree now with me. But it is simple truth. We are ancient empire with a very strong European cultural influence which we love and adore. We would never pass. But we are not Asia, we're not European, thank God. And we are now starting to acknowledge that because our European journey has been two, which Peter the Great sold for because of certain reasons, because we are backward in technological terms is over. It should have been over 150 years ago. It would have saved us from many troubles, including things like world wars, communism, etc. But now we have, we are parting, but hopefully keeping the traits of European cultural heritage which we share with you in our hearts and our minds.

[A]

What effect from your perspective have Western sanctions had on Russia? Do you believe sanctions hurt Russia or helped?

[B]

Oh yes. I mean we invited. I mean I have been calling for confrontation with the west long before we stopping, stopping, I mean the expansion of NATO, et cetera. Long before we decided, of course. I mean economically, why is it they hurt but Strategically what? Political wise, cultural wise, they have been a blessing. We have with their help, we have invited fire, unfriendly fire on our own. We have done away with comprador elites, we have thrown away without any repressions. The fifth call. We are returning back our Russian culture, our Russian soul. We're becoming Russians. And the only problem with this sanctions and with this war is that we have to pay for it with the lives of our best men. But other than that, they have been a blessing and I do not want them to be lifted. Of course, someone should be so relationship and some additional money. But Russia, which is threatened, is again a war fighting nation. We are a nation of wars. And when we started to be attacked, even indirectly, now directly, then we come to our best. And that's why the country is experiencing unbelievable releases. The only problem is that we're losing investment and that should be stopped.

[A]

And that leads to My last question, Mr. Kargonov, which is you've described this as a war, a civilizational war between Russia and Europe. What role does the United States, our administration, our president play in ending it? What can President Trump do to end the war?

[B]

Well, I mean, Americans were very crucial in starting this war because the whole problem started in early 2000s when American administration started to peddle to prop up the European issue because they were afraid of possibility of building a continental alliance between Russia and Germany. So in a way, Americans are also the source have been the source of the problem. As to the Trump administration offer, I didn't like the offer which Mr. Trump offered because it doesn't solve the real problem. And the real problem is European hostility in European aggression. But for the time being, we should use this opportunity if possible. And then of course we all know that President Trump is curtailed his internal affairs. And also now we see that his offers are deluded by all kind of efforts from within and by his allies. But if we, but we could try for a while with his offer, maybe eventually we would end up with solution of the problem. And that is solution of the problem is of course, as I've said, is Europe. However, I do not foresee that unfortunately that possibility. So even if we stop this war, we should be prepared when the war resumes to do away with the source of this war. And that is. Hostility of European elites and they are willingness to fuel warfare on the European subcontinent. But let's give Trump a chance. Although I am not sure whether here we would succeed under circumstances, you know, the internal situation in United States better. And also, by the way, we could not rely, with all our respect to your president on him. He has a country behind him which is deeply divided. He has a huge opposition, and then he's also playing full games. So I don't think, I hope we could arrange something. But we are watching very carefully the fact that presidential administration has abducted the leader of a big country. We are watching very carefully that American Marines are acting like pirates on high seas, seizing tankers, wearing Russian flags, Russian banners. If that continues, we'll have to go back to rough deterrence. But we would like to, to have, if not cordial, but good relationship with the United States and with other two great countries in the world. But we'll see whether he could deliver. I think he wants to deliver, but whether he's able is a big question. So we keep our fingers crossed and let's give us maybe absolute show. We hope that he's sincere, but we do not trust American policies. And to certain extent, his proposals look like a honey tramp trap because nothing happens. Continue the war. I'm talking about peace, peace, peace, peace. I mean, referring to who knows who, Zelensky or other pygmies in Europe who are blocking it. And it seems that this war is continuing and maybe the United States in the end do not want to finish this war. So then we'll have to come back to the solution, which I have mentioned several times, and that is of starting to punish our European enemies with an understanding, hopefully, that the United States would, and knowing that they would refer, refrain from participating in a nuclear war in Europe.

[A]

I think it's important for American policymakers and the American citizenry, the country, to understand the Russian perspective. And I'm grateful that you gave it to us. Mr. Karaganov, thank you very much for your time.

[B]

Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

[A]

For me too. Thanks very much for watching. We will see you next Wednesday.