Bill O'Reilly took a moment Monday night to respond to the Kremlin's request that he apologize for what it called "unacceptable" comments the Fox News host made about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
O'Reilly had called Putin a "killer" during an interview Sunday with President Donald Trump, causing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to ask for an apology from the cable channel.
"We consider such words from the Fox TV company to be unacceptable and insulting, and honestly speaking, we would prefer to get an apology from such a respected TV company," Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.
O'Reilly was not so willing to heed Moscow's request, however.
"Apparently the Putin administration in Moscow demanding that I, your humble correspondent, apologize for saying ole Vlad is a killer," O'Reilly said in a seemingly sarcastic tone. "So I am working on that apology, but it make take a little time. You might want to check in with me around 2023."
The Fox News host went on to play audio of Peskov's remarks with a translated voiceover.
O'Reilly finished his statement by mentioning Washington Free Beacon senior editor Bill Gertz' new book, iWar: War and Peace in the Information Age, as a good source to learn about Putin.
"One footnote, if you'd like to know more about the violent history of Vladimir Putin, you might check out the book iWar by Bill Gertz."