Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says
Tension between the United States and Ukraine, laid bare in the Oval Office meeting of Trump and Zelensky, is seen in Moscow as a “gift.”
March 2, 2025
Nikolskaya Tower, the Historical Museum and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. (Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
By Francesca Ebel
MOSCOW — The Trump administration’s rewrite of decades of U.S. foreign policy on Russia, laid bare in the Oval Office confrontation between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is bringing Washington into alignment with Moscow, the Kremlin said Sunday — a shift that could upend the geopolitics that have governed international relations since World War II.
“The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, state television reported Sunday. “This largely aligns with our vision.”
Moscow’s vision, which has focused on a push to reclaim influence over much or all of the former Soviet Union and defeat liberal democracy, has made Russia a pariah to the West. The United States has given over a hundred billion dollars in arms and aid to Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022. Washington led allies in imposing new sanctions on Moscow; the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.
But on Sunday, as European leaders rallied behind Zelensky in London, Peskov said the administration’s new approach could herald a new thaw between Washington and Moscow.
“There is a long way to go because a lot of damage has been done to the whole complex of bilateral relations,” he said. “But if the political will of the two leaders, President Putin and President Trump, is maintained, this path can be quite quick and successful.”
The Oval Office blowup last week, in which Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of insufficient gratitude for U.S. support and Trump warned that his refusal to compromise with Putin was “gambling with World War III,” has been seen here as a “gift” to the Kremlin.
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Putin has long worked to drive wedges between the United States and its allies. On Friday, Trump echoed his accusations that Zelensky was obstructing peace efforts.
The performance stunned Russian leaders. Kirill Dmitriev, the chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a lead negotiator in preliminary U.S.-Russia talks, called it “historic.” Propagandist Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russia Today, wrote that “the Oval Office has seen a lot, but never this.”
Others were gleeful. Former president Dmitry Medvedev gloated over the “proper slap down” of “the insolent pig” Zelensky, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova marveled at Trump and Vance’s “restraint” in not punching him in the face. Zelensky’s “outrageously boorish behavior,” she wrote, “confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the world community.”
The meeting fit Russia’s narrative perfectly, Konstantin Remchukov, the well-connected editor of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, told The Washington Post.
“We don’t even have to step in — we can just retransmit what the Americans are saying,” Remchukov said. He noted that Putin had “smartly” withheld comment on the meeting, and could afford to stay silent for now.
“The public will conclude that our leaders were correct in their assessment of Zelensky as a leader of Ukraine,” Remchukov said. “This is a huge gift for them.”
But amid the official euphoria lies a degree of caution. Many here are waiting to see results, and are tempering expectations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second from left, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and other U.S., Russian and Saudi officials at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh on Feb. 18. (Evelyn Hockstein/AP)
The United States and Russia last month held their first talks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the meetings in Saudi Arabia wrapped up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio extolled the “potentially historic economic partnerships” that Washington and Moscow could seize once the war was over. Trump has since spoken of “trying to do some economic development deals” with Moscow. Putin has signaled that Russia is open to economic cooperation, including in developing the Arctic and mining rare earth minerals.
A senior Kremlin official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told The Post that Moscow had been astonished by the “tremendous change” since Trump’s inauguration and welcomed his “pragmatic, rather than enemy-like approach.” But he warned that such deals were “potential possibilities rather than imminent plans.”
“Trump has said that America will be potentially ready to talk about lifting sanctions,” he said. “But only after the peace settlement.”
The head of state-owned banking giant Sberbank, a close associate of Putin, said he did not anticipate a swift end to Western sanctions.
“We’re working from a scenario in which no sanctions are lifted and, more likely, they are toughened,” German Gref told reporters Thursday. Trump last week extended U.S. sanctions against Russia for another year.
A Russian academic close to senior Russian diplomats told The Post that the Foreign Ministry is currently split between those who won’t ever trust the Americans and those who see “a historic opportunity to restore dialogue, quickly prepare a summit and get results.” The academic spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
Not everyone here is ready to celebrate the thaw.
“Trump apparently has decided to be friends with Putin no matter what, and this will not lead to anything good,” said Vlad, a 23-year-old human rights lawyer. Like many interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for reprisals.
“Personally, I find this terrible,” he said. “It is more confirmation for Putin that he can do whatever he wants.”
Remchukov, the editor, said officials are conscious that the U.S. midterm elections next year could mean that the chance to end the war on terms favorable to Russia is fleeting.
“At the top [of government] I have not seen anyone who is too optimistic about ending the conflict,” he said. “Even though Trump’s position seems anti-Zelensky, nobody thinks he is pro-Russian entirely — or for good.”
The major reaction within the government that is not transmitted publicly, he said, is that Russia should be prepared to keep fighting.
“Things are continuing seriously, furiously, mercilessly,” he said. “The main task for the Russian authorities is to blow away the euphoria that may have overcome those in the trenches, and the hope that soon there will be peace after Trump’s promises — and tell them that they need to get ready for a hard job,” he said.
Russian military bloggers this weekend heralded the coming spring.
“It will soon get warmer, green shoots will begin to emerge, and it will become a little easier to fight,” one wrote on Telegram. “For the youth of Ukraine, I have bad news: You will soon be sent to the front … and we will tighten our belts and continue to fight.”
Supporters of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathered over the weekend at his gravesite in the Moscow suburb of Marino to mark the first anniversary of his funeral. Navalny, regarded by many as Russia’s last democratic hope, died unexpectedly in an Arctic prison colony last year in what family and supporters have called a state-sponsored execution.
On Sunday, a handful of people wept, hung their heads in solemn silence and lit candles. Some expressed doubt about a meaningful change in U.S.-Russian relations or an imminent end to the conflict with Ukraine.
“Trump is so unpredictable,” said Svetlana, 59, who had come to the grave to lay some white carnations.
Others said Zelensky had carried himself “with dignity,” and that they were waiting to see what came of European security summits.
“I don’t see this war ending while Putin is still in power,” said Alexei, 29. “Putin wanted to take Kyiv in three days, and now Trump wants peace in a day. But look where we are, three years in. … Our losses are gigantic. I do not see a quick or easy way out of this.”
Catherine Belton in London contributed to this report.
