The Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin

[ExomatrixTV]

• Biden REJECTS Putin's Offer To Negotiate But Neocons FURIOUS Over Carlson Interview Revelations:

The neocons are not used to being put on the spot publicly and exposed as the warmongering maniacs they are in front of the people they consider their loyal sheep. Not only does the Biden Whitehouse officially say “no” to the idea of peace negotiations as Vladimir Putin had offered them in his interview with Tucker Carlson, the Collective West is also furious about the fact of the interview itself, since it deals a real blow to their propaganda strategy. While we must not overestimate the faith that a strategist like Vladimir Putin puts into public perception—I can‘t recognise any sign that he ever cared much about his public image in the West—Putin obviously decided that using an opportunity to talk directly to the US public is something that is in his interest. And you can see how Western Mainstream Media understands this and hates it viscerally. Especially this very public offer for peace negotiations is something they try to discredit very much.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=C6z22tyzrgc

• For all new people coming here in this particular Project Avalon Forum Thread:
  

NATO are responsible for pushing mass suicide missions ... sacrificing 100,000s Ukrainian fathers, uncles, sons, husbands etc. and many are forced to fight for a totally corrupt undemocratic tyrants that hijacked the country!

What we all have learned by now is that tanks/armored vehicles are useless in any 2023-2024 war ... Because of much cheaper weaponized drones warfare! (Easier to mass produce).

And maybe USA/UK/Germany (NATO) knows that and want to get rid of the old stuff, dumping it in Ukraine calling it : "help" to fight for "Democracy" = double deception & insanity! ... All done to eventually invest new generation warfare equipment of all kinds domestically ... (Semi-) autonomous future A.I. warfare included.

• I know the chance of the following scenario ever to going to happen is extremely slim (near zero!) but hear me out:

Imagine if Zelensky decides to confess he was/is paid & manipulated by the totally corrupt part of NATO with certain "promises", he admits he FEARS for his life and the safety of his loved ones because of the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis called AZOF Brigade having a track record of killing 1000s of Russian Civilians in the 2010s up to now violating the Minsk Agreements.

That was KNOWN even reported by the western mass media, but refusing to call it provoking a War with Russia! ... Mass media admitting multiple times on record (before the war started) that Ukraine is the most corrupt nation of all nations, Eurasia (Europe/Asia).

Admitting he knew Ukraine has no chance of winning but rely heavily on becoming a "NATO member" >>> even if that becomes a reality, there is no guarantee that "all goes well" for humanity as a whole! ... Meaning: WW3 will start with global mutual nuclear destruction as a result.

Imagine he admits crushing all Ukrainian dissenting voices, including all common sense people in Ukraine! ... dismantling all kinds of Ukrainian: opposition, media, multiple democratic political parties in Ukraine which is obvious the opposite of "Defending Democracy".

On top of all that, Ukrainian adult males (that are not represented anymore) were forced to use weapons in a totally useless, hopless, unwinnable war! ... And many Russian soldiers/officers KNOWS THAT ... that is why they show countless videos how they treat Ukrainian soldiers waving a white flag to surrender with great respect & decency! <<< but you will not see that in any pro-NATO Western Media, they do not care about the unrepresented Ukrainians being sacrificed to serve a bigger "New World Order" plan.

How many Ukrainian children lost their: father, brother & uncle ... Fathers losing their sons NOT because they were against Russia, but they were not represented anymore and FORCED to join the totally insane war PUSHED by all Pro-NATO mass media worldwide! <<< in my view, they all have blood on their hands!

Remember Hillary Clinton repeating over and over the blatant lie that what the Russians did was so called: "unprovoked" and how the mass media only promotes a certain narrative to push Ukraine over the cliff!

How much of the billions of US/EU Tax money spend in Ukraine was not spent for the Ukrainians at all!

Imagine if Zelensky will expose it all and tell the truth for a change,"even asking for forgiveness" that 100,000s died needlessly. 100,000s of fathers, brothers, sons, uncles, husbands.

After confessing all that, Zelensky will not survive that not only because of the totally ruthless Ukrainian Neo-Nazis AZOF Brigade, but he will most likely be killed by the rage of almost all (unrepresented) Ukrainians! ... and maybe he knows that!

• In my view, the biggest systematic push of a tunnel vision "Russia Phobia" narratives started, when Hillary Clinton openly threatened to use Nuclear weapons if Russia "interferes" with the 2016 elections on multiple levels ... not mentioning that anything can be considered "interference" even TELLING THE TRUTH via RT dot com or RT on YouTube ... Hillary Clinton quote: "We Are Losing The Information War"
• The ultra hypocrisy of The USA is extreme harrowing knowing how they manipulated almost all elections in all countries worldwide!
• So when a different source other than western Mainstream Media sharing hard verifiable truths & facts that HAVE an impact on how people think & judge how they are "governed" >>> will be seen as an "election intervention" even if it is 100% the truth that is exposed!
  
• Many hard hitting uncovered truths that have been shared on RT (Russia Today) were ALREADY shared on Alex Jones's infowars and countless other American based independent alternative media outlets ... Most, if not all were originally investigated & exposed by Americans not Russians >>> the moment RT used some of it Hillary claimed that is "proof" that Alternative Media is spreading "Russian Propaganda" WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE! ... It was RT using real independent research done by Americans and HELPS better understand how we all get scrwed on this (fcked up) planet done by lying psychopathic control freaks & dystopian technocrats.

cheers,
John Kuhles 🦜🦋🌳

[jaybee]

.

Boris Johnson - who scuppered the Peace Talks that would have prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold suffering - dubs the Tucker/Putin interview 'ludicrous'.... well he would wouldn't he - as his reputation (which is in tatters anyway)...is on the line - maybe even his life after millions more people get to hear about his role in the Ukraine conflict...

He (Johnson) is personally responsible for his actions but must have been sent in by NATO and the Globalists to do their dirty work -

https://twitter.com/DailyMailUK/stat...107857321?s=20 (23 seconds)

Boris Johnson calls Tucker Carlson a traitor for Putin interview

[TEOTWAIKI]

TC didn't appear to take the interview too seriously.
Seems to me like he was on a mission to free the "journalist" in captivity;
the interview was like a diversion to him...
It's all theatre!

https://www.bitchute.com/video/c2xhdUZiXk2V/

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by TEOTWAIKI (here)
TC didn't appear to take the interview too seriously.
Seems to me like he was on a mission to free the "journalist" in captivity;
the interview was like a diversion to him...

I personally suspect that his question about imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich was an add-on (surprising to me, for sure) to signal to US authorities or a possibly critical public that he was always wanting to sincerely represent US interests, and was never any kind of 'traitor'.

[ExomatrixTV]

• Putin Vs. Tucker Decoded by Konstantin Vadimovich Kisin (born in Moscow Russia):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_wyvERQjvkE

[samildamach]

I personally thought Putin indicated quite strongly that tc was CIA operator.
Not only did he bring up his previous application to join the CIA,it's not unusual to recruit journalists as operators.
But mentioned a few times that you did this including TC in the statement.

[Miller]

Posted by ExomatrixTV (here)

• Tucker & Putin Interview: The Bombshell Takeaways:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=J96koY0EQ48

How Boris Johnson isn’t in prison today is beyond me. The tens of thousands of innocent lives lost at his (and the US govs) hands, truly sickening.

A little off topic, apologies, but I really had no idea that Los Angeles and Texas were once part of Mexico!! Really?? And according to Quora, so was "California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado". Seems as though Israel has taken tips on expansion from the USA . . .

[Le Chat]

Re: past speculation about Putin.
He looks neither a doppelganger, nor at death's door....

[ExomatrixTV]

To the horror of the elites and their mainstream media minions, Tucker Carlson traveled all the way to the forbidden country: Russia. He did the unthinkable and interviewed the most hated, most despised, most dangerous man on the planet: Vladimir Putin.

• This could well be the most viewed broadcast of all time, with an earth- shifting impact on all of humanity.

Why? Because Tucker is interviewing Putin at a time when the worldwide financial elites, also referred to as the "Deep State" or "Cabal", are pushing harder than ever to ignite an all out, indescribably devastating war with Russia. This would suck dozens of nations into the world's most catastrophic military conflict since the dawn of our world, and make the first world wars look like a kindergarten quarrel. No doubt nuclear arms would be used - in a desperate attempt of the Deep State military aka NATO to wipe out their worst enemy and regain control over Ukraine.

But in order to do so, they must first of all lie to all of humanity about Putin, in as vicious and convincing a way as possible, depicting him as an evil psychopath who kills for fun, and invades nations at will - something the USA has in fact been doing for many decades, killing millions upon millions of people - but that's of course irrelevant.

• What Putin does is what's evil, not what the USA has been doing for the past century, invading dozens of nations and slaughtering innumerable defenseless, innocent people.

The Deep State has deployed their entire worldwide arsenal of news media liars to get the public on their side, in the push for a full blown war with the greatest nation of the earth, Russia. If they succeed, it could mean utter devastation for most of Europe, and many other parts of Earth. And if the world's #1 madman, Biden, engages the US in this war, it could mean the end for all of us, and that's seriously not a joke.



But then there's Tucker, this wide-smiling, gorgeous-grinning, sharp-talking, eyes-piercing loud mouth who happens to have the world's largest audience, with records of half a billion views of some of his broadcasts. This clever commentator has more impact on all of humanity than the entire worldwide news media combined. So what does he do? He travels to Moscow, and shows the world who Putin is, for real.

• This could save the world from the worst disaster since it first saw the light of day.

Why? Because the Deep State cannot justify a global war against Russia if half the world population knows Putin is not the insane dictator they have been told. In fact, if they see his kind eyes, hear his compassionate heart, listen to his plea for peace, and understand that he has no intention whatsoever to destroy half of humanity, the world just might begin to see how they have been lied to. They will then agree with Julian Assange, who is still in jail for saying things like:

• "All the wars of the past 50 years were started by media. Populations don't want wars. The have to be fooled into wars by the media."

The chief editor of one of Europe's largest newspapers, the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung (which is distributed in 148 countries, with one million readers per day), has confessed how journalists are bribed by the CIA, American billionaires, and secret societies to push for war with Russia. His confession can be seen in the following documentary.


The question is, however: why are so many western nations always trying to destroy Russia? First of all, we must understand that these nations are controlled by the aforementioned Deep State or Cabal. This is a global network of astronomically wealthy entities who manipulate governments towards a one- world state under their rule (see this evidence report). Once we understand this, we can find the answer to why they are trying to destroy Russia.

• Russian president Vladimir Putin is diametrically opposed to their agenda for world domination.

For years, Putin has been condemning the normalization of pedophilia and the insanity of transgenderism of the West, while defending the nuclear family. He regularly calls the world back to Christian values and condemns the involvement in Satanism by many Western leaders. Putin is indeed their worst enemy.


Russia was once a nation under the control of the Western elites, during the communist era, but around 2012, something profound happened, and Russia was liberated from this influence. The photos below both show "Putin". The difference is that the first one is the orginal Putin, who was a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, positioned in Russia to hand over the country into the hands of the Cabal. He was a dedicated servant of the western elites. The schoolbook definition of a traitor.

• In 2012, the original Putin suddenly disappeared from the scene, and a few months later an entirely different man appeared - the current "Putin".

The photos show the stark contrast between these two men. Not only does Putin all of a sudden have an entirely different head and body, but most importantly: he turned 180° from serving the Cabal, to opposing them. Instead of handing over Russia into their hands, he saved Russia from their grip.
Below is a meme you can download by clicking on it. Feel free to share this wherever you want.

• Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

But if the man who is playing the role of Putin is a good guy, then why did he invade Ukraine? Because Ukraine was a central headquarters of the criminal operations of the worldwide Deep State. The government of Ukraine was directly installed by the US Deep State to be their puppet government.

Evidence for this can be found in our report about Ukraine. This report caused the internet authorities to reach out to our former webhost and force them to take down our website. That's how afraid they are of this information being revealed to the world! Ukraine is a hub for US funded biolabs, where C0VID-19 research was done in 2019 (!), under the direction of the US Department of Defense. See the document below.



When Russia invaded Ukraine, they disclosed the existence of a large number of US funded biolabs, which posed an existential threat to all of mankind.

• The Russian invasion was focused on dismantling these biolabs. By destroying them, Russia potentially saved the world from incredible devastation, as many more bioweapons, far worse than C0VID, would have been released in the future.

Ukraine was also a central point for the trafficking of children, money laundering, the international narcotics industry, and organ trading. It was a core criminal center of the CIA and global Deep State. Ukraine is also the headquarters of George Soros, one of the world’s most well known master-criminals who buys governments and news media, and who is known for his operations to overthrow entire nations by funding social unrest such as BLM and Antifa.

• Putin's bold statements against the globalist elites

The following statements by the current "Putin" speak volumes about his fierce rejection of the agenda for world domination by the Cabal:



"The model of total domination by the so-called golden billion is unfair. Why should this golden billion, which is only part of the global population, dominate everyone else and enforce its rules of conduct that are based on the illusion of exceptionalism?

It divides the world into first and second-class people and is therefore essentially racist and neo-colonial. The underlying globalist and pseudo-liberal ideology is becoming increasingly more like totalitarianism and is restraining creative endeavour and free historical creation."

"Vladimir Putin" - President of Russia

• source
• stopworldcontrol.com/putin
  

[John Hilton]

Posted by Rawhide68 (here)
Only my PC and internet router had been shut off somehow in the instant of me clicking on youtube to watch the Carlson/Putin interview.

Clearly a case of demonic possession! ;-)

Bill, the transcript is where you stated, thanks.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/73411
(I note that it's also now in the library.

Did you know that Putin understands English? A few years ago I found a short YouTube clip of him; (his accent is dreadful.)

Darn, I typed this earlier today but got called away and didn't click "Post". Sorry.

[ExomatrixTV]

Posted by John Hilton (here)

Posted by Rawhide68 (here)
Only my PC and internet router had been shut off somehow in the instant of me clicking on youtube to watch the Carlson/Putin interview.

Clearly a case of demonic possession! ;-)

Bill, the transcript is where you stated, thanks.
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/73411
(I note that it's also now in the library.

Did you know that Putin understands English? A few years ago I found a short YouTube clip of him; (his accent is dreadful.)

Darn, I typed this earlier today but got called away and didn't click "Post". Sorry.

Putin speaks/reads also near fluent German 🇩🇪 and because of that he knows what is going on in Germany (just like me ... I worked in Germany and lived close to the border watched German TV (ARD, ZDF, WDR) almost every day when I was very young of age between 1975 and 1984

[muxfolder]

As someone who's actually living here in a neighboring country of Russia and the history of what has happened in the past, it's hard to believe Putin is some kind of saint or that he has no intentions to spread the war even further. I know this is probably something I shouldn't say here. But as someone from a smaller country like me or someone from Estonia or Latvia might think that we're actually on safer ground being allied with the western countries. And probably this conflict would have spread here and even further if we'd not joined to NATO.

You know, our politicians here seem to think that it's likely that in five years we might be in a situation that Russia is strong enough to push the war further. 2030... Sounds something we've been programmed to believe that everything's going to change for better like the UN plan/WEF? Not for any of us I suppose. Anyway, I just wanted to share my view as someone who's actually living here next to the world's biggest country who we've been even expecting to invade our country since ww2. I must say that I do prefer to live as western country rather than being part of Russia. And btw frankly I'm worried we're gonna have a gay president next because Russia and their allies are not too to have any sympathy for gays or trans or anything like that. It's considered as weakness. And I don't like Stubb either. He's all about WEF-agenda.

[John Hilton]

Yes, I know Putin is fluent in German. I'm afraid I assumed that it was common knowledge. But few people know he speaks English.

I, too, speak German. Not very fluently, unfortunately, but good enough to get by. Also Greek, a little French, a little Spanish and a few Japanese phrases. Enough to ask "where is the toilet?" Important at my age!

My father was a polyglot and also spoke Russian. I probably inherited his interest in languages, if not his skill.

[John Hilton]

...it's hard to believe Putin is some kind of saint or that he has no intentions to spread the war even further.

I doubt that any ex KGB officer is a saint. Putin stated quite categorically that his only intent was to stop the murders in Russian-speaking Donbass and to create a buffer zone between Russia and NASA countries. [Edit: and to denazify Ukraine.] If your country is controlled by NASA and borders with Russia (sorry, I failed Geography at school) then I guess that puts you at risk. The chances of NASA protecting you are probably not good. You'd be safer without that "protection" imho.

[muxfolder]

Posted by John Hilton (here)

...it's hard to believe Putin is some kind of saint or that he has no intentions to spread the war even further.

I doubt that any ex KGB officer is a saint. Putin stated quite categorically that his only intent was to stop the murders in Russian-speaking Donbass and to create a buffer zone between Russia and NASA countries. [Edit: and to denazify Ukraine.] If your country is controlled by NASA and borders with Russia (sorry, I failed Geography at school) then I guess that puts you at risk. The chances of NASA protecting you are probably not good. You'd be safer without that "protection" imho.

I don't think NATO is going to protect us at all but it still much safer to be in than out. Same goes to Sweden and all of the Baltic states. Probably no one of those want to be part of Russia either. So it's kinda double edged sword. You're either part of Russia or you're either part of US and it's allies. And if I had to choose, I'd be rather part of the western countries After all, that's where I was born and that's where I'm used to live in. Don't you all hate to take sides? Well, that's exactly what happened here. We'd have no chance against Russia if they'd decided it's time to take some old lands back. But at least they should consider it now if it's really stupid thing to do or not.

[jaybee]

Posted by John Hilton (here)

...it's hard to believe Putin is some kind of saint or that he has no intentions to spread the war even further.

I doubt that any ex KGB officer is a saint. Putin stated quite categorically that his only intent was to stop the murders in Russian-speaking Donbass and to create a buffer zone between Russia and NASA countries. [Edit: and to denazify Ukraine.] If your country is controlled by NASA and borders with Russia (sorry, I failed Geography at school) then I guess that puts you at risk. The chances of NASA protecting you are probably not good. You'd be safer without that "protection" imho.

I was going to say something similar - that a neutral Finland without Nazi types imbedded in it all over the place (like in Ukraine) is safer than a (new) NATO member assisting with Western military alliance's nuclear planning and support operations,

Whatever could Finland be thinking to put it's citizens in such danger...? especially bordering Russia... It's the same for us in the UK (though we're further away) - moving NATO nuclear weapons to RAF/USAF Lakenheath base in East Anglia makes us a prime target if the you~know~what hits the fan.... and NATO/Globalists get the war with Russia that they appear to want... Russia is not going to just sit back and let themselves be destroyed and invaded -


I suppose Finland's politicians have been bribed/blackmailed/coerced like all the other Western Nations to cooperate with the NWO agenda - which involves plans to take over of Russia one way or another -

[Bill Ryan]

Time codes (with links) for the interview, just in case it's useful.

00:00:00 — Introduction
00:02:00 — History of Russia and Ukraine
00:25:04 — NATO expansion
00:30:40 — NATO and Bill Clinton
00:41:10 — Ukraine
00:48:30 — Cause of the conflict
01:02:37 — Peaceful resolution?
01:11:33 — Who blew up Nord Stream?
01:24:13 — Restoring ties with the USA
01:36:33 — How strong is Zelensky?
01:48:36 — Elon Musk and AI
01:51:07 — Evan Gershkovich's arrest in Russia

[muxfolder]

Posted by jaybee (here)

Posted by John Hilton (here)

...it's hard to believe Putin is some kind of saint or that he has no intentions to spread the war even further.

I doubt that any ex KGB officer is a saint. Putin stated quite categorically that his only intent was to stop the murders in Russian-speaking Donbass and to create a buffer zone between Russia and NASA countries. [Edit: and to denazify Ukraine.] If your country is controlled by NASA and borders with Russia (sorry, I failed Geography at school) then I guess that puts you at risk. The chances of NASA protecting you are probably not good. You'd be safer without that "protection" imho.

I was going to say something similar - that a neutral Finland without Nazi types imbedded in it all over the place (like in Ukraine) is safer than a (new) NATO member assisting with Western military alliance's nuclear planning and support operations,

Whatever could Finland be thinking to put it's citizens in such danger...? especially bordering Russia... It's the same for us in the UK (though we're further away) - moving NATO nuclear weapons to RAF/USAF Lakenheath base in East Anglia makes us a prime target if the you~know~what hits the fan.... and NATO/Globalists get the war with Russia that they appear to want... Russia is not going to just sit back and let themselves be destroyed and invaded -


I suppose Finland's politicians have been bribed/blackmailed/coerced like all the other Western Nations to cooperate with the NWO agenda - which involves plans to take over of Russia one way or another -

That's what I was trying to point out that we're in a middle of a conflict and we can't do nothing about it. And that there are only two sides, and the other is being part of Russia. And no one here wants that. So there's a huge problem because of that.

However, I do like Tucker and it's a huge thing that he did this interview because it really is important to hear what the other part of the conflict is trying to say.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Speaking at a joint White House briefing with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Russian President Vladimir Putin's interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson as absurd.

"And when we saw this latest absurd interview of Putin, we realised that he always lies a lot about the history of this war, because it's so easy to see why he does it. He wants to get some of the territory of his neighbours. It's just imperialism - imperialism," Scholz said at a joint briefing with Biden ahead of the talks.

It is interesting where the traitor to his own people saw "lies" in Putin's interview? Is it that Putin, unlike Scholz, defends his people and loves his country? If Scholz doesn't, that doesn't mean it's a lie. He just shouldn't have sold his country to the Americans.

@ukraine_watch

https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1756340979353760217

[ExomatrixTV]

Posted by TEOTWAIKI (here)
TC didn't appear to take the interview too seriously.
Seems to me like he was on a mission to free the "journalist" in captivity;
the interview was like a diversion to him...
It's all theatre!

https://www.bitchute.com/video/c2xhdUZiXk2V/

• WEF Davos freezes out Putin and Russian oligarchs

World Economic Forum is siding with Ukraine, and blowing a hole in its budget.



Russia House is pictured on the Davos Promenade during the World Economic Forum, 2019. | Roscongress Foundation
By Ryan Heath

The champagne and caviar days in Davos are over. Or at least the caviar.
The World Economic Forum has put on ice its relationships with Russia, including strategic partnerships with conglomerates run by oligarchs. A Kremlin-backed research center in Moscow and an advisory council led by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economic adviser have also been torpedoed.

“We are not engaging with any sanctioned individual and have frozen all relations with Russian entities,” Amanda Russo, a WEF spokesperson, told POLITICO.

The 800-pound gorilla of the elite global conference circuit has walked a tightrope for decades when it comes to Russia: basking in the Kremlin’s attention while cringing over oligarch antics.

The Forum’s founder, Klaus Schwab, prides himself on making his annual meeting in Davos open to all comers, including via a personal relationship with Putin dating back to the early 1990s.

Putin and his predecessor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, have addressed WEF five times from 2007 to 2021. Putin was even invited to speak in January 2015, in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Crimea, but he turned down the invitation.
Introducing Putin to a virtual Davos gathering in January 2021, Schwab called Putin’s voice “essential” in world affairs, echoing a comment from 2009 that he could not think of a single issue of global importance that could be solved without Russia’s involvement. The pair last met in mid-2021, when Schwab told Putin of the “particular importance” he attaches to Russian representatives taking part in Davos events.
Schwab, via a spokesperson, chose not to directly comment on his relationship with Putin.

But the tides have turned. Not only is sucking up to Putin suddenly déclassé, but WEF is now forced to comply with U.S., EU and Swiss sanctions against Russia, which not only means cutting ties with Russian banks and oil companies — but juggling the sensitivities of the Belgium-based SWIFT international finance transfer system (a WEF six-figure “partner”), from which Russian entities are now banned.
SWIFT did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Even before Putin’s presidency, Davos loomed large in the minds of Russian elites. An invitation to WEF was the ultimate stamp of global legitimacy for post-Soviet business leaders — and a chance to throw their weight and euros around.

The star turn of Gennady Zyuganov, the head of Russia’s Communist Party, at the 1996 WEF annual meeting, prompted Russian business leaders including Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky to form the “Davos Pact” — a plan to finance the presidential campaign of Boris Yeltsin, then polling in single digits, to prevent Communists returning to power.

More than 2,000 participants from 85 countries joined events at the venue in 2020, including billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and a disgraced former U.N. Assistant Secretary-General, Fabrizio Hochschild.

Ray Dalio speaks at Russia House, in Davos, Jan. 2020. | Roscongress Foundation
First Covid, then Kyiv

This has already been a crunch year for WEF, with the pandemic forcing the organization into something of a crisis moment.

WEF has relied on its Strategic Partners, which pay upwards of $640,000 to join the Forum’s most elite partnership tier. That grouping includes a number of Russian banks, which have helped to account for some of the 70 percent of its $340 million budget in 2021. But its inability to collect fees for holding in-person events, such as its annual meeting in Davos, blew a $45 million hole in its budget.

With Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the Swiss-headquartered Forum will need to eat an even larger check: the Forum’s elimination of links to its Russian stakeholders has been total.

At least six Davos regulars are now subject to personal or organizational sanctions from Western governments.

Herman Gref — chief executive officer of Sberbank, which has been sanctioned by the U.S., U.K. and Canada — is no longer listed as a member of WEF’s board of trustees.
Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister of Canada, sits on WEF’s board and led the push to eject Russian banks from SWIFT. A spokesperson for Freeland told POLITICO: “Canada will continue to work in lockstep with our partners to sanction President Putin and his hangers-on for their unprovoked and barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” adding “we encourage international organizations to do everything they can to support these efforts.”

Lucrative strategic partnerships with Russia banks such as Sberbank, which first became a WEF partner in 2008 and which served as a founding partner of the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity, are on hold, WEF confirmed.

In the energy field, WEF’s partnerships with the USM Holdings conglomerate led by Alisher Usmanov — the sanctioned owner of Dilbar, the world’s largest yacht — and LUKOIL are on hold.

Neither USM nor LUKOIL responded to POLITICO’s request for comment.
According to an internal document obtained by POLITICO, sanctioned Russian CEOs registered to attend WEF’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Davos — and who will now be barred — include Kirill Dmitriev (Russian Direct Investment Fund), Sergei Ivanov (Putin’s former chief of staff, now at Alrosa), and Alexei Yakovitsky (from the sanctioned bank VTB Capital). Other CEOs who will also miss out include Alexander Dyukov (Gazprom Neft), Ivan Streshinsky (USM investments), Aleksandr Shevelev (PAO Severstal), and Grigory Fedorishin (Novolipetsk Steel-NLMK).

Leonid Mikhelson, founder and chair of natural gas producer Novatek, and Russia’s richest man in 2016, was also due to attend. Mikhelson has so far evaded sanctions but lost more than $10 billion during the first week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Rustam Minnikhanov, president of the Russian region of Tatarstan, was the most senior political figure to have RSVP’d.

A Moscow branch of WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, launched with fanfare in October 2021, has recently disappeared from WEF’s website. Hosted by ANO Digital Economy, the center focused on emerging technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence and internet of things, and operated thanks to an agreement negotiated with the Kremlin and signed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Russia is also scrubbed. The Council was co-chaired by Maxim Oreshkin, a former minister of economic development of Russia, now an adviser to Putin, and Igor Shuvalov, a former member of the Russian cabinet who is now chair of VEB.RF, the country’s financial development institution, and the subject of both British sanctions and American sanctions.

Morals v. rubles

This isn’t the first time WEF has faced headwinds over its Russian relationships.
When Congress authorized extensive sanctions against Russia, in response to Moscow’s interference in the 2016 US election and annexation of Crimea, WEF sought to curtail oligarch access to its 2019 Davos conference. Under pressure from the Kremlin, that access was restored in time for WEF’s winter gathering.

The thanks Schwab got: a no-show from Putin.

Andrey Kostin, president and chair of VTB Bank, and one of the sanctioned oligarchs who WEF initially shunned, slammed the gathering for a “lack of a meaningful discussion and the conspicuous list of no-shows.”

This time the legal and moral pressure on WEF has become too great. Post-Soviet Russia and the World Economic Forum rose together: Each desperately wanted to be seen as a great power.

The deal was relatively simple at first: Putin endorsed WEF, the oligarchs funded it and in turn the Forum helped launder their reputations. Call it multi-stakeholderism, call it a transaction, call it the ugly truth of globalization. Like Klaus Schwab and Vladimir Putin, it was the future once. Now their only hope is peace.

Schwab and WEF’s President Børge Brende said in a Feb. 27 statement that they “deeply condemn the aggression by Russia against Ukraine, the attacks and atrocities. Our full solidarity is with Ukraine’s people and all those who are suffering innocently from this totally unacceptable war.”

The pair went on to promise support for all diplomatic efforts related to ending the war, while expressing hope that “reason will prevail and that the space for bridge-building and reconciliation once more emerges.”