Reactions in Russia to between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were predictably jubilant. The Kremlin also approved of to Ukraine.
“Trump told the cocaine clown the truth to his face: the Kyiv regime is playing with the third world war. The ungrateful pig received a strong slap on the wrist from the owners of the pigsty… Military aid to the Nazi machine must be stopped,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on his social media, reacting to the spat in the Oval Office.
Trump’s accusations that the Ukrainian president is “gambling with World War III” went down especially well in Moscow.
It was an I-told-you-so moment for the Kremlin, which has labelled a “dangerous threat” to the world and
” was right when he said that despite the openness of the Russian side to the negotiation process, these good intentions run into the unwillingness of the Kyiv regime to maintain such dynamics,” Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalists on Monday.
He went on to say Trump’s decision a day later to suspend military aid for Ukraine could lead to an end of the . “If it’s true, then this is a decision that really can push the Kyiv regime towards a peace process,” Peskov said Tuesday.
Russia celebrates rift between US and Europe
On the other hand, . During Sunday’s summit of European leaders in London, Ukraine’s allies promised to continue military support to Kyiv, including a new plan from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen . but it remains to be seen
The apparent split between the US and EU did not go unnoticed in Moscow, with Peskov saying, “The fragmentation of the collective West has begun.”
The Kremin spokesperson wasn’t the only one who saw Europe’s geopolitical importance diminish.
“Everything is now decided by a big triangle: Russia, China, and the United States. It is in this triangle where a new world order will be shaped,” Dmitry Kiselyov, host of a Russian flagship propaganda show, concluded, accusing Europe of wanting to prolong the fighting in Ukraine.
‘The US and Russia now have a common position’
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has never shied away from voicing his desire to remove Zelenskyy from his presidential seat and install a Moscow-friendly regime in Kyiv. But, to the surprise of many, the same ideas started to come from Washington.
“The statements of the US high officials now repeat official Russian state media narratives that there should be new elections in Ukraine, that Ukraine is to blame for the war, and that it doesn’t want peace,” Ekaterina Schulmann, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin, told DW. “The US and now have a common position.”
How do Russians perceive tectonic geopolitical shifts?
“Pro-war Russians — or simply those who watch Russian state media — were left dizzy by the policy U-turn with the United States, which was previously framed as a puppet master of the global disorder,” Schulman explained.
However, there are some Russians who say calling pro-Russian is premature and exaggerated at this point.
“I don’t see warming in relations. Americans seem to be in a race to see who says the craziest thing. I would wait it out; I don’t make loud conclusions for now,” Inna, a Moscow resident, told DW.
Some believe Trump wants a quick fix to end bloodshed in Ukraine.
“Trump says: there will be no war with me. He will make whatever deal just to finish it off quickly. That’s why he pressured Zelenskyy, but he proved to be a tough cookie,” another Moscow resident told DW.
Leading political experts and the Western intelligence community are trying to unravel what Putin is up to: a strategic pause to prepare for renewed aggression or long-lasting peace? Some Moscow-based analysts suggest that there is a long way to go until missiles stop flying in the skies of Ukraine.
“An attempt at peaceful settlement has been thwarted… It paves the way for the next stage of using probably tougher force,” Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of the Moscow-based Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, wrote in his analysis.
“Luck has been on Putin’s side lately, and I don’t think that he has a strict plan when it comes to Ukraine,” Artem, a Moscow resident, said. “As the cards fall. Everyone in Russia lives like that.”
Names of Moscow residents have been changed to protect their identity.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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