President Donald Trump’s confrontational Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signifies a shift in United States foreign policy to one that “largely aligns” with the Kremlin, according to a spokesman for the Russian government.
Since taking office, Trump appears to be taking a friendlier position toward Russia than his predecessors, potentially changing the geopolitical dynamic that has largely existed since World War II.
Trump has questioned the U.S.’s support of Ukraine in the war, pushed blame away from Russia and onto Ukraine and, last week, publicly berated Zelensky during an Oval Office meeting.
“The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations,” Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian government, said to state television on Sunday. “This largely aligns with our vision.”
During the Oval Office meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance angrily accused Zelensky of not thanking the U.S. for its support and claimed Zelensky was “gambling” with World War III by refusing to make concessions to Putin.
European leaders quickly assembled to affirm their support for Ukraine and denounced Putin.
The U.S. once played the same role as other European countries, but it’s unclear what the path forward will be with Trump choosing to cozy up to the Kremlin.
Peskov said there is still “a long way to go” to restore relations between Russia and the U.S. but “if the political will of the two leaders, President Putin and President Trump, is maintained, this path can be quite quick and successful.”
Other leaders in the Kremlin have praised Trump for taking a harsher stance against Zelensky and Ukraine. After insinuating that Zelensky was a “dictator”, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council said Trump was “200 percent right.”
After Trump blamed Ukraine for instigating the war, Sergey Lavrov, the minister of foreign affairs for Russia, acknowledged Trump as the “first, and so far, apparently, the only Western leader” to recognize what Russia believes is a “root cause” of the escalated tensions.
“This is already a signal that he understands our position,” Lavrov said in February.
Peskov’s confirmation that Trump is adopting a position that aligns with the Kremlin means there could be a tangible shift in official policy soon.
As of now, the U.S. still has economic and trade sanctions on Russia as well as individual sanctions on those deemed responsible for the invasion of Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there could be “potentially historic economic partnerships” that Washington and Moscow could engage in once the war was over after the two nations met in Saudi Arabia last month. Putin has also said that Russia is open to economic partnership, including developing the Arctic and mining rare earth minerals.
A senior Kremlin official told the Washington Post that Moscow was astonished by the “tremendous change” associated with Trump’s recent takeover. They said they welcomed Trump’s “pragmatic, rather than enemy-like approach.”
