The American had touted his sit-down with Putin as a triumph for free speech, asserting that he was heading where no Western news outlets dared to tread.

Carlson’s claim also ignored the fact that Russia’s president has spent the past two decades in power systematically stamping out free speech at home.

He talked about a Russian “patriot” who had “eliminated a bandit” in a European capital, seeming to confirm previous reports that Russia is demanding a prisoner swap with Vadim Krasikov.

It’s all part of how Putin justified his full-scale invasion, almost two years ago - along with “de-Nazifying” Ukraine, which he claimed is still a work in progress.

“Sooner or later this will end in agreement,” was Putin’s message, arguing that Nato was coming to realise that defeating Russia on the battlefield would be impossible.

The American did not push Putin at all on political repression at home, which includes locking up vocal opponents of the war in jail.

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