KEY POINTS
- Kremlin says changes in the US National Security Strategy are “largely consistent” with Russia’s vision.
- New US strategy criticises Europe as over-regulated and weakened by immigration.
- Kremlin spokesman says the Trump administration is “fundamentally different” and adjusting policy to its own vision.
- Strategy update coincides with Kyiv–US talks in Florida on a plan to end Ukraine war.
- Zelensky to meet European leaders in London on Monday.
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”.
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
Ukraine-Russia peace talks
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace”, as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
On Saturday, Zelensky said he was “determined” to continue working with the US after speaking to Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner.
Zelensky said they had discussed how to ensure that Russia stuck to any potential deal to end the war.
The White House has pushed Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a multi-point plan to end the war but there has been little sign of a breakthrough, despite both sides engaging with the US-led process.
Macron, Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are due to hold in-person talks in London on Monday.
Europe has pushed back against early versions of the US-led peace plan and has sought to win support from the White House for its own proposals, including comprehensive security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine, including the possibility of a peacekeeping force.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected the idea of such a force saying any troops deployed to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets”.
Also on Saturday, US and Ukrainian negotiators urged Russia to show a “serious commitment to long-term peace”.
