Tucker Carlson pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from prison so he can return to the U.S

Tucker Carlson asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Evan Gershkovich from prison so he can return to the U.S. Carlson did not ask about other Americans who were locked up inside Russia , including Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel .

Nearly the entire first half of the interview was Putin sharing his version of Russia ’s history and offering his justifications for why he invaded Ukraine in February 2022 .

Putin appeared to take some subtle shots at Carlson , in an apparent attempt to throw him off balance.

Putin said he thought the reporter was working for U.S. intelligence and that he was “getting classified information,” presumably from the Russian government, “in secret [which] is called espionage” Tucker Carlson pushed back, noting that Gershkovich was just a reporter.