Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says
March 2, 2025 at 5:35 pm Updated March 2, 2025 at 5:35 pm
By FRANCESCA EBEL
The Washington Post
MOSCOW – The Trump administration’s rewrite of decades of U.S. foreign policy on Russia, laid bare in the Oval Office confrontation between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is bringing Washington into alignment with Moscow, the Kremlin said Sunday, a shift that could upend the geopolitics that have governed international relations since War World II.
“The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television on Sunday. “This largely aligns with our vision.”
Moscow’s vision, which has focused on a push to reclaim influence over much or all of the former Soviet Union and defeat liberal democracy, has made Russia a pariah to the West. The United States has given hundreds of billions of dollars in arms and aid to Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022. Washington led allies in imposing new sanctions on Moscow; the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.
But on Sunday, as European leaders rallied behind Zelensky in London, Peskov said the administration’s new approach could herald a new thaw between Washington and Moscow.
“There is a long way to go because a lot of damage has been done to the whole complex of bilateral relations,” he said. “But if the political will of the two leaders, President Putin and President Trump, is maintained, this path can be quite quick and successful.”
The Oval Office blowup last week, in which Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of insufficient gratitude for U.S. support and Trump warned that his refusal to compromise with Putin was “gambling with World War III,” has been seen here as a “gift” to the Kremlin.
Putin has long worked to drive wedges between the United States and its allies. On Friday, Trump echoed his accusations that Zelensky was obstructing peace efforts.
The performance stunned Russian leaders. Kirill Dmitriev, the chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a lead negotiator in preliminary U.S.-Russia talks, called it “historic.” Propagandist Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russia Today, wrote “the Oval Office has seen a lot, but never this.”
Others were gleeful. Former President Dmitry Medvedev gloated over the “proper slap down” of “the insolent pig” Zelensky, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova marveled at Trump and Vance’s “restraint” in not punching him in the face. Zelensky’s “outrageously boorish behavior,” she wrote, “confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the world community.”
The meeting fit Russia’s narrative perfectly, Konstantin Remchukov, the well-connected editor of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, told The Washington Post.
“We don’t even have to step in – we can just retransmit what the Americans are saying,” Remchukov said. He noted that Putin had “smartly” withheld comment on the meeting, and could afford to stay silent for now.
“The public will conclude that our leaders were correct in their assessment of Zelensky as a leader of Ukraine,” Remchukov said. “This is a huge gift for them.”
But amid the official euphoria lies a degree of caution. Many here are waiting to see results, and are tempering expectations.
The United States and Russia last month held their first talks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the meetings in Riyadh wrapped up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio extolled the “potentially historic economic partnerships” that Washington and Moscow could seize once the war was over. Trump has since spoken of “trying to do some economic development deals” with Moscow. Putin has signaled that Russia is open to economic cooperation, including in developing the Arctic and mining rare earth minerals.
A senior Kremlin official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told The Washington Post that Moscow had been astonished by the “tremendous change” since Trump’s inauguration and welcomed his “pragmatic, rather than enemy-like approach.” But he warned that such deals were “potential possibilities rather than imminent plans.”
“Trump has said that America will be potentially ready to talk about lifting sanctions,” he said. “But only after the peace settlement.”
The head of state-owned banking giant Sberbank, a close associate of Putin, said he did not anticipate a swift end to Western sanctions.
“We’re working from a scenario in which no sanctions are lifted and, more likely, they are toughened,” German Gref told reporters Thursday. Trump last week extended U.S. sanctions against Russia for another year.
A Russian academic close to senior Russian diplomats told The Post that the foreign ministry is currently split between those who won’t ever trust the Americans and those who see “a historic opportunity to restore dialogue, quickly prepare a summit and get results.” The academic spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
Not everyone here is ready to celebrate the thaw.
“Trump apparently has decided to be friends with Putin no matter what, and this will not lead to anything good,” said Vlad, a 23-year-old human rights lawyer. Like many interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for reprisals.
OP Note: Love to observe the Great Negotiator at work.
By FRANCESCA EBEL
The Washington Post
MOSCOW – The Trump administration’s rewrite of decades of U.S. foreign policy on Russia, laid bare in the Oval Office confrontation between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is bringing Washington into alignment with Moscow, the Kremlin said Sunday, a shift that could upend the geopolitics that have governed international relations since War World II.
“The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television on Sunday. “This largely aligns with our vision.”
Moscow’s vision, which has focused on a push to reclaim influence over much or all of the former Soviet Union and defeat liberal democracy, has made Russia a pariah to the West. The United States has given hundreds of billions of dollars in arms and aid to Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022. Washington led allies in imposing new sanctions on Moscow; the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.
But on Sunday, as European leaders rallied behind Zelensky in London, Peskov said the administration’s new approach could herald a new thaw between Washington and Moscow.
“There is a long way to go because a lot of damage has been done to the whole complex of bilateral relations,” he said. “But if the political will of the two leaders, President Putin and President Trump, is maintained, this path can be quite quick and successful.”
The Oval Office blowup last week, in which Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of insufficient gratitude for U.S. support and Trump warned that his refusal to compromise with Putin was “gambling with World War III,” has been seen here as a “gift” to the Kremlin.
Putin has long worked to drive wedges between the United States and its allies. On Friday, Trump echoed his accusations that Zelensky was obstructing peace efforts.
The performance stunned Russian leaders. Kirill Dmitriev, the chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a lead negotiator in preliminary U.S.-Russia talks, called it “historic.” Propagandist Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russia Today, wrote “the Oval Office has seen a lot, but never this.”
Others were gleeful. Former President Dmitry Medvedev gloated over the “proper slap down” of “the insolent pig” Zelensky, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova marveled at Trump and Vance’s “restraint” in not punching him in the face. Zelensky’s “outrageously boorish behavior,” she wrote, “confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the world community.”
The meeting fit Russia’s narrative perfectly, Konstantin Remchukov, the well-connected editor of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, told The Washington Post.
“We don’t even have to step in – we can just retransmit what the Americans are saying,” Remchukov said. He noted that Putin had “smartly” withheld comment on the meeting, and could afford to stay silent for now.
“The public will conclude that our leaders were correct in their assessment of Zelensky as a leader of Ukraine,” Remchukov said. “This is a huge gift for them.”
But amid the official euphoria lies a degree of caution. Many here are waiting to see results, and are tempering expectations.
The United States and Russia last month held their first talks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the meetings in Riyadh wrapped up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio extolled the “potentially historic economic partnerships” that Washington and Moscow could seize once the war was over. Trump has since spoken of “trying to do some economic development deals” with Moscow. Putin has signaled that Russia is open to economic cooperation, including in developing the Arctic and mining rare earth minerals.
A senior Kremlin official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told The Washington Post that Moscow had been astonished by the “tremendous change” since Trump’s inauguration and welcomed his “pragmatic, rather than enemy-like approach.” But he warned that such deals were “potential possibilities rather than imminent plans.”
“Trump has said that America will be potentially ready to talk about lifting sanctions,” he said. “But only after the peace settlement.”
The head of state-owned banking giant Sberbank, a close associate of Putin, said he did not anticipate a swift end to Western sanctions.
“We’re working from a scenario in which no sanctions are lifted and, more likely, they are toughened,” German Gref told reporters Thursday. Trump last week extended U.S. sanctions against Russia for another year.
A Russian academic close to senior Russian diplomats told The Post that the foreign ministry is currently split between those who won’t ever trust the Americans and those who see “a historic opportunity to restore dialogue, quickly prepare a summit and get results.” The academic spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
Not everyone here is ready to celebrate the thaw.
“Trump apparently has decided to be friends with Putin no matter what, and this will not lead to anything good,” said Vlad, a 23-year-old human rights lawyer. Like many interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for reprisals.
OP Note: Love to observe the Great Negotiator at work.
