Munich as seen through the Kremlin’s eyes

Despite putting on a cool and victorious front, all Russian state outlets followed the Munich Security Conference with feverish interest. Could this be the moment when the pressure on Russia starts to ease? The pro-Kremlin outlets portrayed the conference as the beginning of the end for the EU and NATO.

Mock the EU and the Europeans…

The volume has been turned up on Moscow’s well-known tropes that the EU has no future, and it was described as an ‘evil, feeble, old woman who tries to dress up as a young and spectacular beauty’. Pro-Kremlin outlets tried their best to denigrate senior EU leaders such as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and HRVP Kaja Kallas .

There is Kremlin delight in anything that would ease the pressure on Russia, and Moscow works hard to create a split of the forces behind sanctions and reduce assistance to Ukraine. To this end, pumping up an image of Russia’s invincibility is of key importance.

Kremlin-affiliated opinion formers seized it as an opportunity of US Vice President Vance’s criticism of Europe to predict the imminent demise of the Collective West, calling it a ‘monster’ and threat to global stability. Ukraine was accused of being the main reason for a transatlantic divorce, while Ukrainian president Zelenskyy was mocked for appearing ‘erratic and peculiar’ at the Munich conference, with baseless suggestions that he suffers from a drug addiction.

…And keep them away from any negotiations

Key Russian state outlets deploy the line that Europe should not be at the negotiating table along with the US and Russia about Ukraine. This is a well-known instinct resurrecting the Cold War privilege of the Soviet Union and the US deciding world affairs. RT and Sputnik, which work towards audiences in more than 25 languages, give prominence to all the voices who speak of no involvement of Europe or demands of concessions to be made by Ukraine.

Spinning ‘Lost sovereignty’ into ‘weak irrelevance’

Traditionally, the Kremlin claim has been that Europe was under the control of the US and did whatever Washington ordered. We now observe a ridiculing twist where the narrative of ‘lost sovereignty‘ is made into ‘weak irrelevance’ with claims like ‘the Europeans, who yesterday obeyed Washington as vassals, are now breaking off relations with their ‘older brother’’.

Keep up the nuclear scaremongering

As expected, loud speaking voices like Kremlin-affiliated talk show host Vladimir Solovyov made sure to keep up the usual nuclear scaremongering by referencing Russia’s nuclear arsenal and issuing thinly veiled threats of nuclear attacks against Europe on Russia’s main state TV.

Meanwhile, as Foreign Minister Lavrov now travels to Saudi Arabia, he plays hardball ruling out any concession of territory conquered by Russia by repeating the lie that ‘the Ukrainian Nazis kill innocent Russians’ in territories under Kyiv’s control.

The scene is being prepared for negotiations. So don’t be deceived.