Kremlin reuses anti-Ukraine tactics against U.S. leadership
The Kremlin is employing an information warfare strategy against U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that mirrors the tactics it has previously used against Ukraine and its allies, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on Aug. 6.
The analysts reached this conclusion after observing Russian propagandist media amplifying the statements of senior Russian officials, portraying Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff as rational, while characterizing Trump himself as irrational.
Grigory Karasin, Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Chair, said he hoped the outcome of Witkoff’s talks with Putin would be “concrete, not emotional like Trump’s recent statements.”
Likewise, Alexey Chepa, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, claimed that Trump sent Witkoff to Moscow to “ease tensions” following recent “ultimatums,” adding that this move could harm the Trump administration’s image.
Russian propagandist Alexander Kots, who also serves on the Kremlin’s Human Rights Council, accused Trump of issuing daily ultimatums and said that Witkoff will present Trump with a result he would “perceive as a small victory.”
ISW noted that the Kremlin has previously sought to sow divisions between Ukraine and its allies — as well as between the U.S. and Europe — as part of a broader campaign to weaken international support for Kyiv.
Now, the Kremlin is likely deploying similar tactics against the Trump administration, attempting to undermine U.S. efforts to pressure Russian dictator Vladimir Putin into constructive peace negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Moreover, ISW wrote, Moscow is likely attempting to push the US into unilateral concessions, particularly "facilitating U.S.–Russian economic deals that benefit Russia without requiring the ceasefire and long-term peace negotiations that Trump had previously demanded."
The analysts concluded that Moscow seeks to fracture the Trump administration as part of its wider efforts to avert the planned U.S. sanctions.
On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump claimed that his envoy Steve Witkoff had made ‘significant progress’ during his meeting with Putin, and that he briefed several European allies about the talks.
That same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a phone call with Trump. European leaders also participated in the conversation, and according to Zelenskyy, the joint position of Ukraine and its partners remains clear: the war must end.
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