Breakdown of 'The Putin Interviews' By A Real MF

BTHitman Breaks down of The Putin interviews by Oliver Stone

These interviews of Russian president Vladimir Putin were conducted by Oliver Stone on the course of three years from 2015 to 2017. I decided to write a Substack post on this because I think these interviews will be looked at by people of the future to try to understand the world we lived in. I was also intrigued by it because it’s not everyday you get to watch a top world leader freely express himself.

Most of the time when you watch an interview with a big world leader it seems so fake with pre written questions and them trying to say things that alight with a certain political party. These interviews seems like you’re getting Putin’s true self. Even though he’s maintaining kayfabe when he’s answering questions that involve “unofficial” stories but If you couldn’t see through that you might be an idiot when it comes to dealing with humans. One thing I was very dissatisfied with was the lack of questions when it comes to Russian organized crime, mafia etc. but let’s get into it.

Note: Only discussing parts of the interview I found interesting

Economy

Putin appears to be a numbers guy, he can rattle off all of Russia’s economic numbers off the top of his head like a Business CFO. He’s also honest about what Russia can and can’t afford and makes sure Russia does not have a lot of debt always has the funds to pay for the small amount the do have. Their debt is 12%-13% of GDP stated Putin, he also had something to say about the US after he was asked a question on how they compare.

“It’s important to remember the share of the GDP in the US, the debt’s share as compared to the GDP is 100% whereas in Russia it’s around 12% to 13%”

While it seems that the economy is well managed when it comes to the bigger numbers, there was no question about small business, access to capital, entrepreneurs and why Russia is not more competitive when it comes to global innovation. This would be great time to interject and ask about organized crime and do they play a role in stifling new innovative companies. Especially when he seems to be concerned about supply-chain cyber attacks from the US and how Russia has to be technologically independent. You’re going to need a lot of entrepreneurs for all that.

Money

When asked, Putin Claims that the accusations of him being the Richest person in the world was wrong. An interesting thing he said after being asked a question by Oliver Stone was:

“You are far wealthier that those who have great amounts of money in their accounts. You have an opinion of your own, you have talent, you have a chance to show this talent, and you also have the chance to leave a great legacy afterwards. Money doesn’t bring this kind of happiness. Because when you’re in a coffin you don’t have any pockets to take your money to the grave with you.”

When he said this he caught my attention, because now I see him as a man who’s after legacy and I can use that to better understand his decisions. The US Media tend to portray him as someone who’s constantly trying to steal state funds.

The United States

Putin has in interesting theory about the US he said:

“When the Soviet Union collapsed, they were under the illusion that the United States was capable of everything and they could act with impunity. And that’s always a trap, because in this situation, a person and country begin to commit mistakes. There is no need to analyze the situation. No need to think about the consequences. No need to economize and the country becomes inefficient and one mistake follows another. That’s the trap the US has found itself in.”

“If there’s is this imperialistic notion in society, and if the whole society believes that they are sinless, that they are the righteous ones, then the political leadership has to follow the same logic as society”

I think it’s a valid assessment that not only applies to the military action but the Federal Reserve and more.

Ukraine

Putin claims that there was a coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014 and the government that came in were anti Russian and it negatively impacted Russian speakers in Ukraine. I covered these events in this Substack post

Putin: “So the question is what was the reason for the coup d'état? Why did the drive this country into chaos, into civil war? So what was the sense behind all that? And now as to the unfolding of the political situation, indeed you have now mentioned the fact that there were riots and a coup d'état was perpetrated.