For Russia’s propaganda mouthpieces, the political is personal. Having returned from their winter vacations, Russian state media frontmen and women complained that US President Donald Trump had ruined their holidays.
His list of failings, they said, included “snatching” the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, seizing vessels sailing under the Russian flag, and reportedly contemplating additional sanctions that could be imposed in the near future. They also bemoaned Russia’s faltering economy, but urged citizens to “heroically” persevere, since Moscow does not intend to make any concessions or curtail the Ukraine quagmire.
On January 11, during Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, the decorated state TV host Vladimir Solovyov admitted, “Right now, our weakest link is our economy. If we can’t solve the issues with our economy, everything else will lose all its meaning.” Head of RT Margarita Simonyan readily agreed.
And yet despite their worries and disappointments, Vladimir Putin’s favorite talking heads managed to find something glistening in the mud.
In 2022, Danish intelligence accused Russia of forging a 2019 letter to Senator Tom Cotton, claiming to be from Greenland’s foreign minister and alleging that an independence referendum was being contemplated. This ploy seemed intended to exploit Trump’s interest in purchasing Greenland and to cause divisions within the NATO alliance.
Given the current White House focus on Greenland, Russia’s spokesman and women have found something to cheer.
Seeing their outlandish dreams take shape has tickled Putin’s propagandists pink. Solovyov proudly noted, “I often argued with respected people here about Trump, so who was right? I’ve been telling you that Trump won’t leave Greenland alone.” He proceeded to outline Russia’s interest in the Greenland debacle and surmised, “I’ve been telling you that Trump achieved more than any president of the United States during this term. He totally destroyed the entire system of international relations.”
Solovyov added: “We’re ready to help Trump to liberate Greenland,” hoping out loud that this would lead to a war between the United States and Europe. Describing Europeans as “dumb animals,” Solovyov asserted that America is not their ally but their owner, who will chase them back “into the barn.”
He added: “You will observe and ponder, like Starmer, who can’t say what happened in Venezuela. You won’t be able to say anything about Greenland, and you won’t be able to bring your troops to Greenland. First, you have no troops; secondly, you don’t have the means of transporting them there. Americans will sink you on your way there, if they want to, and we will help.”
Simonyan rejoiced that the US has finally shed its “rainbow raincoat” and exposed what lies underneath. She boasted that, unlike America, Russia never concealed its intentions or its nature. Simonyan argued that while slogans change throughout history, human nature remains the same — and it’s full of greed, bloodlust, cruelty, injustice, and selfishness.
Simonyan said that Trump ushered in a new era, tearing down old ideals and replacing them with a total disregard for the post-World War II order. She exclaimed, “An era has changed, this banner has been torn up by the wind, you can no longer decipher what was written on it. Freedom, of what? The rights of whom? None of it exists any longer. Starting with this year, this era is called, ‘[The victim’s] only fault is that I’m hungry.’ We can say that Donald Trump named it this way, the leader of the so-called free world.”
Complaining that Russia is bombing Kyiv “in the wrong way”, Simonyan explained: “We will not be shy about defending our interests, and we can openly say why we are not carpet-bombing Kyiv. I think we aren’t destroying all of Kyiv, because Khreshchatyk Street is ours, because the Lavra [the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery of the Caves] is ours. All of it is ours. If it won’t be ours once again tomorrow, then it will be the day after tomorrow.”
Solovyov, who is urging Russia to start more “special operations”, meaning more wars, said that Moscow should stop being “shy” about its goals and national interests. Simonyan wholeheartedly endorsed his message and added: “Humanity has returned to the animal skin it was born in.”
Solovyov asserted that a war is something that is very normal and natural, and that peace is an anomaly that contravenes human nature. Moscow’s most prolific propagandist concluded: “We’re making things up about human nature, but in reality, it’s animal nature. It’s a tragedy, but Cain killed Abel.”
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 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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