The U.S. has long been a target of Russia's ire. Under Trump, the tone has changed

After U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his marathon code to Congress Tuesday night, media outlets astir the satellite pored implicit the messages, facts and falsehoods.

In Russia, authorities media outlet RIA Novosti tracked however galore times Trump referred to Vladimir Putin, comparing the code to erstwhile U.S. President Joe Biden delivered his past State of the Union code successful March 2024. 

The outlet pointed retired that Biden mentioned the Russian president 7 times, speaking astir the request to "stop Putin" and "stand up to Putin."

Trump, connected the different hand, mentioned Putin conscionable once, saying helium astir apt recognized helium had a "chance" to invade Ukraine, aft seeing what helium called the "incompetence" of the Biden medication during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan successful 2021. 

It was a elemental examination meant to thrust location a point: the Trump medication appears overmuch much favourable for Moscow — even if the Kremlin appears cautious to openly and publically clasp the U.S. government. 

"I americium cautiously optimistic," said Malek Dudakov, a Moscow-based governmental idiosyncratic and regular commentator connected Russian authorities media programs. "But nary 1 present has immoderate illusions that we are going to hide the hatchet time and volition go the closest friends of the United States."

Blunt alteration of tone 

Even cautious optimism is simply a melodramatic displacement successful code toward Washington, fixed that Russian governmental officials and tv commentators person been blasting the U.S. authorities for years, labelling the state an enemy and adjacent threatening to motorboat atomic attacks against America and its assets. 

Trump's efforts to disrupt U.S. overseas policy, and dismantle the Biden administration's staunch, unflinching enactment for Ukraine by trying to unit the state into negotiating a bid woody to extremity Russia's invasion, has earned praise from the Kremlin and members of the country's governmental class. 

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said helium agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when, during an interrogation with Fox News, Rubio called the Ukraine warfare a proxy fight between atomic powers, with the United States helping Kyiv.

The warming relations widen beyond the posturing astir Ukraine. Trump has said repeatedly he has a good narration with Putin, and his administration's attacks against alleged "wokeness" person garnered enactment successful Russia, which claims to extol accepted values and whose courts person handed retired convictions for LGBT "extremism."

Still, contempt the areas of alignment, determination remains a wariness successful Russia fixed Trump's unpredictability and his actions during his archetypal word arsenic president. Russian commentators often constituent to 2019, erstwhile the U.S. approved the sale of javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, and erstwhile Trump signed onto additional sanctions against Russia erstwhile pressured by U.S. Congress.

"I don't deliberation Trump is trying to go a pro-Russian president oregon trying to physique an alliance," said Dudakov, speaking to CBC News by telephone from Moscow. "I deliberation Trump simply would not similar to struggle with Russia, due to the fact that … the contented of Ukraine is not a precedence for him."

Dudakov is simply a predominant impermanent connected Russian governmental shows, which person warmly approved of the recent fractious developments betwixt Washington and Kyiv, arsenic good as other U.S. efforts to shingle up alliances and planetary order.

Shifting U.S. argumentation connected Ukraine

On the 3rd day of Russia's full-scale invasion, the U.S. split with its European allies astatine the United Nations, refusing to blasted Russia for its penetration of Ukraine in 3 separate votes, including 1 wherever the 15-member UN Security Council passed a U.S.-drafted resolution that took a neutral presumption connected the conflict.

The Kremlin welcomed the U.S. stance, saying it was "impossible to imagine" that Washington's overseas argumentation would "largely coincide" with Russia's vision.

In the days that followed, determination was much support from Russian officials aft the explosive Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the consequent U.S. determination to halt subject assistance and the sharing of quality with Ukraine.

"They praised Trump and Vance for challenging Europe … and humiliating Zelenskyy," said Maxim Alyukov, a governmental sociologist and subordinate researcher astatine King's College London and a chap astatine the University of Manchester. "But astatine the aforesaid time, determination is simply a batch of ambiguity."

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Alyukov pointed to an autarkic Russian quality outlet Verstka, which published a study past week quoting unnamed sources successful authorities media who said they had not yet received strict instructions connected however to grip the crisp warming of relations; editors were told not to personally praise Trump successful lawsuit the negotiations failed. 

That study seems to beryllium accordant with the statements being made by authoritative sources and commentators who openly question and statement Trump's information during those programs, Alyukov said.

Anger aimed astatine Europe

As for the warnings, threats and profanity that were antecedently directed astatine the U.S. connected Russian authorities media and social platforms, the prime words are present being specifically aimed astatine Europe.

European Union leaders person vowed to measurement up its defence spending — by arsenic overmuch arsenic 800 cardinal euros — in bid to amended support the portion and enactment Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer person been some of the astir vocal supporters and person publically supported the thought of deploying European peacekeepers to the state if determination is simply a negotiated ceasefire.

"You perceive each kinds of swearing directed astatine Macron and Starmer," said Alyukov, referring to the commentary connected Russian authorities governmental programs.

After Macron delivered a televised code connected Wednesday, saying that Europe needs to admit the menace Russia poses, and proposing the hold of French atomic extortion to the remainder of Europe, absorption from Moscow was swift and uniform. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Macron "detached from reality," portion Putin remarked Thursday that determination are immoderate "who privation to spell backmost to the times of Napoleon, forgetting however it ended." (In 1812, Napoleon marched the French army into Moscow, earlier retreating a period later.) 

Putin, however, has said precise small astir Trump. 

In a code to Russia's Interior Ministry Wednesday, Putin didn't notation the U.S. president once. Instead, helium praised the section for its enactment successful handing retired Russian passports to residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia — seized Ukrainian territories that Russia wants to permanently control.

Aligned values, but unclear peace plans

Yevgeny Popov, big of the fashionable regular Russian governmental programme 60 Minutes and an MP successful the State Duma, told CBC News helium disputes the thought that Russia volition payment from the increasing divided betwixt Europe and the U.S. — but helium believes Trump volition beryllium a amended president than Biden.

"We person immoderate akin positions betwixt [the] Russian radical and U.S. people," he said. "We are blimpish nations."

When asked if helium considers Trump to beryllium a pro-Russian president, Popov scoffed. "U.S. subject instrumentality is still connected the battlefield, and U.S. tanks and missiles are inactive warring against my people."

He said while helium welcomes Trump's statements astir rapidly negotiating a bid deal, helium is skeptical, too, arsenic nary factual program has been revealed yet. 

On societal media platforms, immoderate of Russia's pro-war subject bloggers are captious of the prospects of negotiating, and alternatively privation the country's subject to triumph the warfare outright. 

Trump has repeatedly said that Russia has been sending beardown signals that it is acceptable for peace. The Kremlin, too, has said Putin is superior about negotiating a woody in Ukraine.

But determination is nary proposition that Russia is consenting to forgo its cardinal demands: keeping the Ukrainian territory it present controls and having Ukraine wantonness its NATO ambitions — both of which Zelenskyy has repeatedly said are non-negotiables. 

"We are acceptable to negociate connected circumstantial issues, for example … [the] lifting of sanctions," said Dudakov, noting that connected others, "Russia is not acceptable to compromise."