For 3 years, the Kremlin saw the United States as its biggest enemy, accusing U.S.
President Joe Biden of lengthening the Ukraine conflict by providing weapons to Kyiv.But with U.S.
President Donald Trump initiating a rapprochement with Moscow and halting assistance for Ukraine, the Kremlin is redirecting much of its anger towards European leaders who have actually stood by the embattled country.Pro-Kremlin media and experts have amplified Trumps criticism of Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while accusing Europe of wishing to continue the fighting.And Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week explained Europe not the United States as being the primary barrier to peace in Ukraine.
Europe is changing the United States as a bogeyman in our propaganda, and will gradually replace it in individualss minds, independent expert Konstantin Kalachev told AFP.By shifting the blame away from the U.S.
to Europe, Russia can keep its rallying cry of being trespassed upon by a hostile West, he said while unlocking to potential cooperation with the White House.
Our people can not live without the image of the enemy, without the image of the alien, hostile other, Kalachev said.Pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda has in current weeks glossed over Washingtons traditional support for Kyiv in favor of broadsides on U.K.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron is on the march: Europe is all set to enter into big debts for the sake of war with Russia, one headline stated.
Peace is war: Starmer shares Britains take on ending the Ukraine dispute, stated another.Meanwhile Alexander Dugin, an ultranationalist analyst called Putins brain, said Wednesday that France had declared war on Russia after Macron described Moscow as a risk in a speech to the nation.EU saw worse than U.S.Recent polling reveals this type of messaging seems resonating with Russians, who have actually adopted a hostile mindset to European leaders while softening their stance on the U.S.
We know from focus groups that Macron and (European Commission chief) Ursula von der Leyen are the face of Europe today, and the mindset towards them is bad, said Denis Volkov, head of independent pollster Levada Center listed as a foreign representative by the Russian government.
Not only did the attitude towards the US start to enhance at the end of in 2015 we had about 15-16% [with a positive mindset] today it is 30%, Volkov stated.
But the U.S.
is now viewed much better than the European Union, even though it had always been the other way around.
Only around 21% currently have a positive attitude towards the EU, he told AFP.
It has actually never ever taken place before that the EU is seen worse than the U.S.
Putin mentioned NATO expansion as one of the factors for his major invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, implicating the U.S.
of utilizing the alliance to threaten Russia on its doorstep.But Trump has because voiced support for this view, stating Ukraine can forget about joining NATO and blaming Ukraine and Biden for having began the fighting.Trump like-mindedEuropean leaders including Macron and Starmer have actually stressed their assistance for Ukraine and taken actions to reinforce their defense amidst Trumps significant shift in foreign policy.The reversal in U.S.
diplomacy has actually surprised even the Kremlin, which is reported to have informed state media outlets to temper their praise for the U.S.
leader.
This was actually difficult to think of, Peskov stated recently after the U.S.
two times agreed Russia at the United Nations.On Thursday, he applauded remarks by U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio who referred to the Ukraine dispute as a proxy war.
Peskov stated the comments were definitely in line with Kremlin thinking, including: We concur.
That is how it is.
Kalachev said that while Moscow stays suspicious of Washingtons objectives, many of Russias elites see Trump as a like-minded individual.
The speed with which our propagandists alter their position is astonishing to a big part of the general public, Kalachev stated.
But peoples minds are malleable.
And if essential, they will be prepared to think that America is now our pal and ally, even if it ruins the usual photo of the world.