Russia appears to be relishing Europe and Ukraine’s discomfort after a week of outspoken criticism from both the White House and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The growing divide has seen the Kremlin and Russian state media lead a charm offensive praising Moscow’s “alignment” with Washington.
Russia has watched on as Washington has appeared to pour cold water on its alliances with Ukraine and Europe over the last week.
That began when the White House last Friday released its new national security strategy which questioned whether Europe could remain “reliable allies,” and said the U.S. should reestablish strategic stability with Russia.
Then Trump said this week in an unguarded interview with Politico that Europe was a “decaying” region with “weak” leaders. The president also backed fresh elections in Ukraine, saying it appeared increasingly undemocratic.
