Kremlin tempering trump praise amid warming US relations
Putin's administration has recommended that pro-government propaganda media "do not praise" American President Donald Trump but rather portray him as "a man who had the wisdom to respond to Russia's extended hand."
In light of the warming relations between Russia and the USA, the president's administration has advised pro-government media "not to personally praise" American President Donald Trump but to present him as "a man who had the wisdom to respond to Russia's extended hand," reported "Viorstka," which spoke with several sources in the Kremlin and in pro-government media.
They fear failure
"In case negotiations do not lead to any results, it can always be said: we tried, we did everything we could," explained one of the newspaper's informants.
According to him, any contacts between the teams of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the USA's Donald Trump should be presented in a positive context.
"It should be emphasized that the talks are not with some anonymous Americans but with Trump's team—a man who was oppressed both in his homeland and in Europe. Simply put: we were oppressed, he was oppressed, but we turned out stronger," a source explained to "Viorstka."
An employee of a large state media outlet described the new information policy as follows: "We are not making any promises regarding the end of the 'special military operation,' nor are we giving timelines. The main thing is that they made contact, and we are ready to listen."
Media received specific guidelines
An employee of government television added that there were no orders to push any specific topics, but the president's administration advised "balancing Trump" with statements from the Russian side. It's like a minefield: you can't praise him too much, nor too little. "That's why we're moving to a mode of regular information transmission to avoid problems," said the head of one of the pro-government media outlets.
Earlier, Trump embarrassed the Kremlin with his statements about Ukraine and his harsh tone towards Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, informed Bloomberg sources.
According to them, his words "exceeded all expectations" of Moscow, which sought to impose its view of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the USA. At the same time, the highest Russian leadership fears a possible "trap" or unexpected turns from the American administration, which for now shows a willingness to make concessions.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin intends to use this situation to gain maximum benefits for Russia from any potential agreements ending the war, a Bloomberg source said.
Trump, who promised to end the war within 24 hours, held a phone conversation with Putin three weeks after the inauguration, and a week later, Russian and American delegations met in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine's participation. As a result of the negotiations, it was decided to restore the functioning of embassies and start consultations on mutual "flashpoints," and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the possibility of easing sanctions depending on Moscow's stance.
Meanwhile, Trump almost literally began repeating Kremlin propaganda narratives. He accused Zelensky of triggering the war and called him a "dictator without elections" with a support level of 4 percent, fourteen times lower than the actual result provided by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology (57 percent in February). American diplomats opposed referring to Russia as the "aggressor" in the G7 declaration and did not support the UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion on the third anniversary of the war.
