The dream is becoming reality. At least for the media talking heads who take their orders at weekly meetings in the Kremlin. The US is aligning with Russia’s outlook, they say. Now, Russia can begin to imagine a just punishment for its old enemies in Europe’s democracies.
State TV host Vladimir Solovyov, regarded by some as the mouthpiece-in-chief, has expressed doubts in the past about the administration, which he long argued was the main enemy (the old KGB term for the US.)
No longer. Administration statements that echo Russian language and continuing peace talks (underway again in Saudi Arabia from March 23) have changed the mood from fairly optimistic to effervescent.
Solovyov now asserts that a new alliance is on the horizon. During his morning radio show Full Contact earlier the month, Solovyov said: “The masks are off! We now see that Europe is behind this war . . . This is the center of liberal democracy . . . They are totally Satanic!”
He added: “I will watch Trump going to war with Europe — it will give me great pleasure. Here is how it will go: the annexation of Greenland, the disintegration of NATO, the destruction of the European Union that Trump will no longer recognize, and the economic war between America and Europe.”
But why stop there? Trump might even redirect US aid earmarked for Ukraine to Russia, America’s new ally. Solovyov daydreamed: “Trump will say, ‘Why don’t we enter into a military-technical cooperation with Russia? Here is who the real enemies of America are: Satanic Europe and the European Union.’”
Solovyov, who has been decorated by the Kremlin (Order of the Fatherland, Fourth Class), has continued to develop this theme, proclaiming that an alliance between the United States and Russia will culminate in taking unspecified joint action against Europe.
On another episode of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host and experts appearing on his program pondered the impending “division of Europe” that Russia would facilitate, worrying only that Trump’s term isn’t long enough to get everything done that needed doing. Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky agreed that Moscow needs more time, and Vice President JD Vance is Russia’s golden ticket to continue its global expansion — provided he wins the presidential election in 2028.
During the latest broadcast of his TV show Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the host proclaimed that Russia’s war against democratic Europe is inevitable. Solovyov opined that this “horrific war” won’t be fought on land, but will instead be based on the use of various advanced weapon systems at Moscow’s disposal. He urged Russia to get ready for this conflict, in part by improving its economy.
The joy is not limited to the broadcast media. Russian newspapers are equally content. As BBC Moscow Correspondent Steve Rosenberg detailed in his Moscow press review for March 24. “US and Russian officials have started speaking the same language,” one paper wrote. Another argued that Trump planned to become a joint economic owner of Ukraine and is “proposing that Russia becomes its associate and business partner.”
Back on TV, Henry Sardaryan, Dean of the School of Governance and Politics at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, stressed that the long-term outlook is very positive for Russia, since the United States under Trump has pleasingly abandoned the principles of international law and the inviolability of borders, and no longer condemns the invasion of Ukraine, but instead is willing to let the Kremlin enjoy the spoils of war. He noted, “Strategically, everything is going very well.”
Seizing on Ambassador Steve Witkoff’s apparent willingness to recognize the occupied Ukrainian regions as Russian, Sardaryan urged Moscow to promptly notify him that Russia also lays the claim to Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, “and Russian territories aren’t limited to that.” Solovyov chimed in to add that holding referendums in the above-mentioned regions should satisfy the Trump administration in accepting additional parts of Ukraine as Russian.
Sardaryan stated that the agenda of the US-Russian negotiations goes far beyond Ukraine and will redefine the “European security architecture,” among other things. He said that there are currently seven right-wing governments in Europe that are “extremely positive” towards Trump and his agenda.
He also noted that Russia wants to see that number increase, from seven to at least 10 or even 20, to wrestle the enormous European resources out of the hands of “sick people” like British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
He urged Moscow to focus on fomenting “anti-war movements” that will block the roads and impede the functioning of freely elected parliaments across Europe, and “destabilize the situation in all the countries that dare to act against Russia’s interests.”
The US has been proclaimed as Russia’s archnemesis, both before and after the beginning of the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. In December 2021, Olga Skabeeva, the host of state TV show 60 Minutes, stated: “The United States has to sign off on the notion that its hegemony is over.”
She added: “Russia is placing the United States in a no-win situation: either they retreat voluntarily, or we will force them to.”
Something like this now appears to be underway. The Russians have every reason to be cheerful.
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. She is the author of In Their Own Words: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Intentions.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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