US President Donald Trump’s envoys to the Kremlin may have been marking time during discussions last week in Moscow about a potential Ukraine peace accord, but the Russians can now leverage a fresh asset: The growing rifts between Washington and Europe.
On Tuesday, Trump reinforced his administration’s criticism of Europe, stating in a recently released interview with Politico that European nations were “feeble” and “deteriorating” due to their migration policies.
He also asserted that Russia possesses the “dominant position” in its conflict against Ukraine and that it was time for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “start acknowledging realities” regarding attempts to conclude the struggle. “He’s going to have to get moving and start recognizing things, you know, when you’re falling behind,” Trump commented.
The US president’s comments followed the unveiling last week of a fresh national security blueprint that sharply criticized European governments for backing Ukraine, holding “European officials who harbor unrealistic expectations for the contest” accountable for obstructing a peace settlement.
“A considerable European majority desires accord, yet that aspiration is not reflected in policy, largely due to those administrations’ undermining of democratic procedures,” the text maintains.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz countered that strategy paper Tuesday, remarking in a press briefing that “some of it is plausible, some of it is understandable, and some of it is unacceptable to us from a European viewpoint,” adding that European countries do not require assistance from the United States to “preserve democracy” in Europe.
However, the Trump administration’s phrasing – portraying Europe as an anti-democratic barrier to steady relations with Russia – has proven to be a boon for Russian officialdom.
In statements Monday, Peskov elaborated further, noting: “The subtlety we observe in the new framework certainly appeals to us. It emphasizes the necessity for discourse and cultivating constructive, favorable associations.”
Kirill Dmitriev, the Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a vital go-between in the recent diplomatic exchanges between Washington and the Kremlin, has also capitalized on the situation. In a sequence of posts on X, Dmitriev applauded Trump’s condemnation of European nations, particularly Trump’s caution that “Europe must be extremely circumspect” and that it “is heading in some unfortunate directions … very detrimental for the populace.”
Trump’s assertions came in reaction to an inquiry concerning X being subject to a $140 million penalty by EU watchdogs Friday for infringing upon European digital content stipulations.
Elon Musk, the proprietor of X, reacted with posts calling for the dismantling of the EU. But it appears somewhat hypocritical for Russian officials to emphasize the Trump administration’s indictments of democratic decline by Europe: Russian President Vladimir Putin has essentially eradicated political opposition and suppressed media independence over the span of a quarter-century in control. Moreover, Russia effectively restricts access to online platforms such as Facebook and X, though that does not prevent well-connected Russian figures like Dmitriev from utilizing such technological venues to disseminate their viewpoints in English.
But there seems to be an intentional design at play. Russian policy has been plainly directed at eroding European backing for Ukraine, while seizing a chance to foster suspicion regarding the dependability of the NATO alliance. And the Trump administration’s novel national security framework furnishes Moscow with additional leverage in an information conflict intended to influence masses in both the United States and Europe.
We have witnessed this previously: The repercussions in Europe following the issuance of the Trump administration’s new national security strategy echo the surprise felt by Europeans after US Vice President JD Vance gave an address at the Munich Security Conference in February. And the delight likely voiced in Moscow over Washington’s rebukes of Europe recalls the pleasure over Trump and Vance’s public reprimand of Zelensky in the Oval Office later that month.
In a televised interview on Russian state media, conservative Russian political analyst Sergey Karaganov stated Russia was “in conflict with Europe, not with a pathetic, pitiable, misguided Ukraine.”
Karaganov added that he doesn’t represent Putin, allowing him to offer his candid view: “This contest will not cease until we overwhelm Europe, morally and politically.”
But even if Karaganov wasn’t speaking on behalf of the Russian government, it was evident he is voicing threats articulated by Putin personally.
On the eve of his rendezvous with Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in Moscow last week, Putin cautioned that Russia was “prepared this instant” for confrontation with Europe – even if it is not intending to commence one.
“We are not intending to enter hostilities with Europe. I have stated this a hundred times, but if Europe suddenly wishes to wage conflict with us and initiates it, we are prepared right now,” he declared last Tuesday.
But the intended audience for that sort of aggressive posturing is obvious, and the Kremlin desires to ensure that Europeans are unsettled by the language that is destabilizing trans-Atlantic affiliations at their base.
About the Author
