Putin’s mouthpieces are in a lather of excitement over the US administration’s willingness to make a deal to their liking.
By Julia Davis, for CEPA
Many in the democratic world have been stunned by the rush of the Trump administration to abruptly end the international condemnation and isolation of Russia, welcoming it to the negotiating table in Riyadh on February 18 and offering up preliminary concessions — while Moscow promised nothing in return.
Unsurprisingly in Moscow, the new capital of global despotism, the shampanskoye corks were popping like machine guns. Having repeatedly outlined the benefits the Kremlin would reap during Trump’s second term, Russian experts affected to have seen it all coming (though they too have been on a Trump-induced rollercoaster for the past few weeks.) They are now ecstatic to see that the new US president is exceeding even their highest expectations.
Russian state TV hasn’t seen as many sneers and smiles — often exploding into open and uproarious laughter — in the studio since the Trump-Putin 2018 meeting in Helsinki. Epithets like “unimaginable,” “sensational,” “amazing” and “unbelievable” are flying all over the Russian airwaves. State TV host Evgeny Popov surmised that Trump has taken a buzzsaw to Europe and has decided to do Russia’s job himself.
As the US-Russia talks started in Riyadh on February 18, the morning broadcast of the state TV program 60 Minutes, hosted by Olga Skabeeva, excitedly noted: “This is the beginning of negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine. Kyiv was officially dropped overboard.” Alexei Fenenko, Professor at the Moscow State University’s School of World Politics, mentioned that the Russian state media is in a state of euphoria, but cautioned everyone that these talks might take months before yielding any results.
State media coverage noted that Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief, was included in the talks to appeal to Trump’s business savvy, by highlighting how much money American businesses have allegedly lost because of sanctions that were imposed against Russia. The end of sanctions is a key Kremlin demand.
Last week, appearing on the state TV show 60 Minutes, State Duma member Oleg Morozov gushed: “You know, what’s great and interesting about politics is that sometimes, your wildest hopes in anticipation of important events can be far surpassed by reality.”
Moscow’s talking heads are in awe of the speed with which the transatlantic relations are unraveling from Trump’s new policies. They continue to be thrilled with his cabinet picks, although the already-considerable popularity of new Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is now being surpassed by that for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During One’s Own Truth on Valentine’s Day, multiple pundits described Hegseth as their favorite spokesman in the Trump administration for promising concessions to Russia even before the negotiations had started.
In return, Moscow plans to offer nothing of value. On February 17, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that there can be no thought of territorial concessions by Russia. In fairness, there is little reason to offer anything since the US has not demanded anything. The Riyadh talks ended with another concession as Washington agreed to resume high-level diplomatic representation.
Top state TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov often reiterates that Russia does not truly want to negotiate and doesn’t intend to stop its war of aggression. During the latest broadcast of Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, he insisted that the main thing Russian troops want is not to be interfered with in their campaign of conquest.
Feasting on a (probably misconstrued) Hesgeth statement about NATO’s Article 5, the propagandists zeroed in on what Russia should do next if Europe loses its US security umbrella — attacking European capitals with no fear of retribution.
Appearing on The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, political scientist Sergey Mikheyev said: “In this situation, we should make it clear for the Europeans: now we can really strike Brussels, London or Paris because we can forget about Article 5. You can forget the notion that Americans would step in on your behalf.” Solovyov replied, “I like the way you think.”
Russian experts often acknowledge that America’s alliances were what made it great and that disrupting them had to be one of Moscow’s top priorities. With Trump back in office, there is an unmistakable sense of satisfaction as observers see what they believe to be the United States taking a sledgehammer to its old ties with European allies.
The style employed by the representatives of the new US administration in making clear their disdain or even outright contempt for America’s best friends is just the icing on the cake for Moscow’s mouthpieces.
Appearing on Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host and experts said that America is using the language of street thuggery to its European allies. Solovyov praised the blistering attack against European democracies by US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference — describing it as Vance punching Europeans in the nose and repeatedly slapping them in the face. Solovyov also noted that Vance simply reiterated what Russian officials and state TV pundits have been saying for years.
After years of being a pariah for the civilized world, Russia is getting ready to reap the rewards for its armed aggression and for what it believes is a friendship with Donald Trump.
During the February 17 broadcast of his program, The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host boasted: “It’s clear that American businesses will want to return,” something apparently confirmed at Riyadh the following day.
So far, the upcoming negotiations are being perceived as the sweetest possible bargain imaginable — where one side gives up everything and the other side nothing at all.
By Julia Davis, for CEPA
Julia Davis is a columnist for The Daily Beast and the creator of the Russian Media Monitor. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, and Women In Film.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
