Moscow hopes to take advantage of a growing rift between the U.S. and Ukraine, and Europe more broadly.
The Kremlin on Sunday cheered the shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, saying the American view now “largely coincides” with Russia’s take on geopolitics.
Trump has upended U.S. policy on Ukraine in recent weeks and sought a more conciliatory approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin, echoing Moscow’s talking points and recently accusing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of obstructing efforts to resolve the conflict started by Putin’s unprovoked invasion. In contrast, former U.S. President Joe Biden led efforts to support Kyiv against the Russian forces attacking Ukraine.
“The new [U.S.] administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday in a video published on Telegram.
His comments come as European leaders are trying to mend a growing rift between Kyiv and Washington after a meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in the White House spiraled into a tense row on Friday.
Peskov also hailed the U.S. decision to back a United Nations draft resolution that refrained from calling Russia the aggressor in the Ukraine war, calling it something that previously had been “impossible to imagine.”
