Russia has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy, calling it “largely consistent” with Moscow’s approach.
33 page document, Unveiled by the US administration this weekSuggests that Europe is facing “civilizational eradication” and does not consider Russia a threat to the US.
Countering foreign influence, ending mass migration and rejecting the EU’s alleged practice of “censorship” are outlined as other priorities in the report.
Many EU officials and analysts had pushed back against the strategy, questioning its focus on freedom of expression and comparing it to the language used by the Kremlin.
“The adjustments we are seeing … are largely in line with our approach,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published by Russia’s state news agency Tass on Sunday.
“We consider this a positive step,” he said. He said Moscow would continue to analyze the document before drawing strong conclusions.
The strategy adopts softer language toward Russia, which EU officials worry could weaken Moscow’s stance as it pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
In the document, the EU is blamed for blocking US efforts to end the conflict and says the US should “re-establish strategic stability in Russia” which would “stabilise European economies”.
It appears to support efforts to influence policy on the continent, noting that US policy should prioritize “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European countries”.
The new report also calls for the restoration of “Western identity”, and claims that Europe “will no longer be recognizable in 20 years or less” and that its economic issues are “overshadowed by the real and more obvious possibility of the eradication of civilization”.
“It remains unclear whether the economies and militaries of some European countries will be strong enough to remain reliable allies,” the document said.
In stark contrast, the document celebrates the influence of “patriotic European parties” and says “the United States encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit”.
As the EU is engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Trump administration to reach a peace deal in Ukraine, some officials have stressed its enduring ties with the US while raising “questions” over the document.
“America will remain our most important ally [Nato] Alliance. “However, this alliance is focused on addressing security policy issues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said on Friday.
“I believe that there is no question of freedom of expression or of organization in our free societies [in the strategy]In any case at least when it comes to Germany.”
In a social media post addressed to his “American friends”, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that “Europe is your closest ally, not your problem” and noted their “common enemies”.
“This is the only reasonable strategy for our shared security. Unless something changes.”
Meanwhile, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt wrote that the document “places itself on the right side of the extreme right”.
The Trump administration has promoted relations with Far-right AfD party in GermanyWhich is classified as extreme right by German intelligence.
Promoting an “America First” message, the strategy states that the US intends to target alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, given possible military action in Venezuela.
The US has also called on Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan to increase defense spending.
Democrats in Congress warned that the document could harm US foreign relations.
Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, who sits on the House committees that oversee intelligence and the armed forces, called the strategy “devastating to America’s position in the world.”
Representative Gregory Meeks of New York said it “rejects decades of values-based, American leadership”.