U.S. President Donald J. Trump stunned the world by offering unprecedented concessions to Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday—seemingly without getting anything in return. Before the formal peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin even started, Trump and members of his administration dismissed the idea that Ukraine could reclaim its territories that Russia currently occupies, slammed the door shut for Kyiv’s hope of NATO membership, and refused to acknowledge Ukraine as an equal member in the peace process. While Ukrainians and their allies were left in disbelief, Russian state TV and radio stations were full of elated propagandists, who grinned ear to ear and periodically broke out into uproarious laughter.
During Wednesday’s broadcast of the state TV program 60 Minutes, host Olga Skabeeva described the events as “unthinkable” and “unimaginable.” She asked Mikhail Antonov, the network’s correspondent in Europe, “What does it all mean? Ukraine is left without NATO? Ukraine is left without money?” Antonov said that the era of American dominance had ended and surmised that Europe wouldn’t be able to compete with the volume of military assistance America used to provide. Throughout his commentary, Skabeeva smiled broadly and couldn’t hide her glee. Co-host of 60 Minutes Evgeny Popov marveled at the fact that Trump is doing Moscow’s job by destroying Western alliances and “sawing” Europe into pieces—something that the Kremlin dreamt of doing all along.
For years, Russian state TV experts predicted that Trump’s return to the Oval Office would mean cutting off American aid to Ukraine, which would, in turn, change the odds in their favor. However, even the Kremlin’s talking heads are surprised by the speed of Trump’s gallop towards Moscow—and amazed that the leader of the mightiest nation in the world is treating war criminal Putin as his equal. During Wednesday’s broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, Director General of Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov said that regardless of what happens in the future, Wednesday’s revelations can be described as Russia’s “big success.” He said, “The president of the United States called the president of Russia. That alone is already a major success!”
Vladimir Solovyov
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Shakhnazarov explained, “The blockade has been broken. It means a lot to all of them that the president of the United States, the mightiest nation in the West, as great as the Roman Empire, made this call. It’s as if Julius Caesar himself telephoned a barbarian, a chieftain of some German tribe.” Solovyov rejoiced about an assertion by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the United States intended to disregard NATO’s Article 5 in the event Europe militarily engaged with Russia. 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 chimed in to add, “I like the way you think.”
During Thursday’s radio show, Full Contact, Solovyov approvingly read commentary by the network’s correspondent in the U.S., Valentin Bogdanov, who wrote, “During negotiations, the victors are the ones dictating conditions. This is the foundation of diplomacy—and the entirety of what is being dictated should be said in the Russian language.” Solovyov added that the telephone conversation between Trump and Putin “has caused a total collapse of Zelensky’s world,” and Europe is “insanely panicked.” He said that Trump’s approach follows the logic of Putin’s ultimatum in December 2021, when he claimed that “NATO expansion” was a core reason for the invasion. While gloating about the Trump administration repeatedly reiterating its belief that Ukraine must concede certain territories to Russia, Solovyov sternly asserted that Russia does not intend to relinquish any of its conquests. The same view reverberated across Russia’s state media, with experts urging the military to advance quickly and take as much Ukrainian land as possible. After Putin’s negotiations with Trump, they fully anticipate being able to keep the spoils and evade the consequences.
