Russian state TV program 60 minutes played the clip of former U.S. President Donald Trump asking the CPAC, “Do you miss me yet?” Co-host Olga Skabeeva responded enthusiastically: “Yes, we do!”
Other experts from the Rossiya-1 network nodded and nodded. Trump’s departure has sucked the joy of pro-Kremlin propagandists, with a series of new problems ending on Russia’s horizon. Instead of making cheerful presumptions about “owning” the American president, Russian state television programs are now full of gloomy experts and discussions about the impending flood of American sanctions are so tense that they leave experts ready. to play.
During the Trump years, state media spokesmen, strictly controlled by Russian President Vladimir Putin, put on a happy face and followed his lead exclaiming that they wanted Trump elected only because he promised to improve relations between the United States. and Russia. Experts appearing on national news talk shows and programs now escape and admit they preferred Trump’s presidency primarily because it was so bad for the United States and its allies. After President Joe Biden was elected — despite Russia’s efforts against it — all pretensions vanished into oblivion.
During his nightly program The afternoon with Vladimir Soloviev this Tuesday, prominent state television presenter Vladimir Soloviev exclaimed, “Why would the United States think we are interested in changing or improving our relations with them?” He added: “What makes them think we are interested in a restoration?” Soloviev predicted a “hard and asymmetrical response” to the first round of Biden sanctions that will include more hostilities in Ukraine, long seen in Moscow as one of the main battlegrounds in Russia’s fight against the West collective.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced sanctions against seven Russian officials in response to the attack on Navalny, which Trump ignored.
On all Russian state media platforms, hosts and experts agreed that Russia is in a new cold war with the United States, with far-reaching consequences for Ukraine and other neighboring countries of Russia. In February, Putin held a closed-door videoconference meeting with Russia’s main media leaders. Prior to the summit, RT chief Margarita Simonyan traveled to eastern Ukraine and publicly argued that “Mother Russia should bring Donbas home.” After the conference, Simonyan quoted Putin as saying, “We will never leave Donbas. Always. “He also admitted that America was a topic of discussion, but did not go into further detail.
Russian state media experts have repeatedly stated that the United States has always been and will continue to be Russia’s sworn enemy. Appears The evening with Vladimir Soloviev, Semyon Bagdasarov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Middle East and Central Asian Studies, exclaimed: “A war is being waged against us. We call things by what they are. They are our enemies. They want to destroy us. “Some went even further. During the same program, Dmitry Kulikov, a member of the Zinoviev Club, set up by the Kremlin-controlled media giant Russia Today, argued that Americans should be perceived as another class. of beings, “the others.” Everyone who aligns with the United States — from Russian dissidents to European allies — will no doubt be painted with the same brush.
Russian propaganda operations are expanding, both internationally and nationally, with larger budgets earmarked for state media such as RT and RIA Novosti. Internally, the state media will try to unite the Russians against the collective West, led by the United States. Internationally, Russian state media and aligned troll farms will continue their efforts to inflame divisions and eliminate NATO alliances.
One of the consequences of President Biden’s election was the renewed commitment to transatlantic unity, an unwanted side effect for the Kremlin. Skabeeva of Russia 60 minutes bitterly described the coordination of the latest package of US and European sanctions against Russia for the attempt to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny as an example of “unity that was not unheard of under Trump “. Appearing in Russia-1, the deputy dean of world politics at Moscow State University, Andrey Sidorov relied on the hope that transatlantic alliances would be damaged to the point of not returning them. He noted, “Trump will forever remain in the minds of U.S. allies as an example of how the next administration might treat them. They will always remember that.”
Without a touch of irony, Sidorov described the alleged intention of the United States to intervene in the Russian elections as “the third phase” of the Cold War. For this reason, Russia has participated during the “third phase” of the Cold War against the United States for years, having “interfered systematically and exhaustively in the 2016 presidential election,” as outlined in the conclusions of former Special Councilor Robert Mueller.
Pro-Kremlin experts anticipated the next cyber measures that would lead Russia in retaliation for its malicious activities against the United States. 60 minutes, Said Alexei Naumov of Russia’s International Affairs Council: “We have laughed at Americans for the ease with which all their systems are hacked, perhaps by our hackers. But Americans have very strong cyber forces. , offensive cyber forces. They can pose a threat to us. ” Co-host Skabeeva replied coldly: “At the same time, we chose their president and they could not choose ours, so it is an open question whose cyber forces are stronger.”
Russian cyberwarfare will no doubt continue to include U.S.-led operations of influence. During its Wednesday night broadcast, host Soloviev laughed, “Will there be a Trump inauguration on March 4?” Other panelists laughed and acknowledged their familiarity with the strange conspiracy theory generated by QAnon. During the broadcast of 60 minutesPyotr Tolstoy, vice-president of the Russian State Duma, said: “Here in Russia, we always have an asymmetrical response. It’s scary … and it’s classified.”
Threatening retaliation for the latest set of US sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged the United States not to “play with fire.” Co-host Olga Skabeeva asked Zakharova if Russia was prepared to respond to US sanctions. She smiled: “There will be an answer. Don’t even worry about it. “