Russia spent years loathing the U.S. as its economy paid a high price for the war — now, it’s doing a U-turn
Since invading Ukraine three years ago, Russia has spent a significant amount of energy demonizing the U.S. and denigrating its leadership, economy and culture — and what it saw as Washington’s “hegemony” in the global world order.
U.S.-led international sanctions prompted more vitriol from Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials slamming the almost continuous slew of punitive restrictions on key sectors of the Russian economy and its elite, as the war continued.
But the arrival of a friendlier administration under President Donald Trump and fledgling talks with the U.S. to end the conflict in Ukraine — as well as a way back in from the economic and geopolitical cold — are prompting a U-turn in Moscow, with the Kremlin dramatically softening the adversarial position it has occupied in recent years.
As tensions between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spilled over into open acrimony on Wednesday, with Trump calling Zelenskyy a “dictator,” Putin broke his silence on the rapprochement between Russia and the U.S. in Saudi Arabia this week after the first sit-down talks between officials since early 2022.
″“I rate [the negotiations] highly, there is a result,” Putin said, adding that the meeting was “very friendly.”
“In general, as I was told, it [the mood] was very friendly. On the American side, there were entirely different people who were open to the negotiation process without any bias, without any prejudice to what was done in the past,” he said in comments translated by NBC News.
Putin also praised Trump for showing “restraint” amid what he described as “hysteria” by European leaders who are angry at being left out of negotiations on Ukraine’s future.
Mood music changing
The mood music in Moscow appeared to change swiftly after the Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh on Tuesday which aimed — ostensibly — to lay the groundwork for upcoming peace talks on Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s absence from the discussions.
Russian state media responded positively to the talks and changing tide in Russia-U.S. relations, as did senior officials in Moscow who are part of Putin’s loyal inner circle.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the talks had focused on a “revival” of U.S.-Russia relations more than Ukraine, saying the mood was now “business-like.”
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed that sentiment, commenting on the “very constructive” talks that had taken place, and stating Wednesday that the countries had “begun to move away from the edge of the abyss where Biden’s administration led our relationship.”
“For now, it is necessary to clean up the legacy of the Biden administration, which did everything to destroy ... the very foundation of long-term partnership between our countries,” Lavrov said, commenting on the possibility of strategic cooperation between Russia and United States, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
CNBC has requested further comment from the Kremlin on the change in position vis-a-vis Washington and is awaiting a response.
There’s no doubt that Joe Biden’s departure from the White House and Trump’s return have prompted Moscow to soften its rhetoric toward the United States, with whom it had warm relations during the president’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin even signaled his support for tariffs that Trump announced in his first weeks in office, stating that the U.S.′ European allies would “stand at the feet of the master” when confronted with Trump’s trade threats.
Russia also stands to benefit significantly from the end to a war that has put its economy on a war footing, with Moscow having massively ramped up its production of military hardware, diverting workers away from other key industries and production, contributing to persistent inflationary pressures and a rise in the price of basic goods and foods that have been felt keenly by Russian citizens.
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