Appearing on the state television program 60 Minutes on Tuesday, Dmitry Abzalov, Director of the Center for Strategic Communications, noted: “Of course we depend on the US elections. Anyone who doubts this should take a look at today’s top news stories. Each field commander reports that they are connected to the US election, planning to monitor it at night. Why should they care if everything was judged here?’ Even the expected re-emergence of former President Donald Trump on the political stage did not excite Putin’s mouthpieces. During Sunday’s show, Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, top pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov described a video of Trump protesting against President Joe Biden as the opinion of a “smart man who openly says everything that many people think Americans. “ Andrei Sidorov, associate dean of world politics at Moscow State University, complained bitterly about the Biden administration’s attempt to force Russia to negotiate with Ukraine. The host and panelists gasped, wondering what the point of the negotiations would be. Sidorov explained that the US wanted Russia to withdraw from the territories it holds in Ukraine. Solovyov asked incredulously, “Where shall I retreat?” The head of RT Margarita Simonyan said: “In Siberia.” “After the midterm elections, we’ll see a glass jar full of venomous American spiders tearing each other apart. Go ahead and eat each other!’ — Sergey Luzyanin The retreat issue has touched a nerve, as Russian troops are rapidly losing Ukrainian territory to the Ukrainian military. Negotiating at this point would mean consolidating their losses and acknowledging Russia’s defeat. Sidorov focused on America: “You just showed Trump. Of course, I’m a big fan of this former president. I even love his colors, the colors of the Republican party.” Sidorov recounted Trump’s dealings with the Jan. 6 Commission and added that they would increase their pressure. Solovyov interrupted: “Lordy, let them press him. Let them marry each other, kill each other.” Sidorov clarified: “We couldn’t care less how they feel about each other, but Trump is causing a lot of hate in American society. From my point of view, the more they hate each other, the better it is for us.” He distilled the main talking point that has emerged on many state television shows: regardless of which party may come to power in the United States, Russia is in dire straits in Ukraine. The best course of action suggested by state TV pundits was to inflame divisions in the US in hopes of jeopardizing continued aid to Ukraine. During Monday’s state TV show 60 Minutes, Sergei Luzyanin, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Russian Foreign Ministry, complained about the bipartisan “Russophobic consensus” in the US Congress and Senate. Lousianin said, “A possible Republican victory in Congress, and perhaps in the Senate, will mark the beginning of a political Halloween.” He predicted that over the next two years, Republicans will pursue a host of legal disputes, court cases and impeachments, all of which will exacerbate already existing social divisions and conflicts between elites. Lousianin predicted: “After the midterm elections, we will see a glass jar full of poisonous American spiders, tearing each other apart. Go ahead and eat each other! It will be a scary political process… It may also lead to tactical or strategic changes in their foreign policy… Grab lots of popcorn and let’s see.” Presenter Olga Skabeeva noted that she would rather rely on Russia’s own strength, rather than hope that its enemies will decimate each other: “We hope it will happen, but they haven’t destroyed each other yet.” Political scientist Vladimir Kornilov explained that Republicans would turn Biden into a lame duck by blocking his defense budgets, among other things — which would negatively affect US aid to Ukraine and thereby help Russia. He added: “In terms of driving the wedge, we should certainly try to destabilize the situation in the United States of America … as well as its allies.” To amuse viewers, a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) promising last Thursday that “not another penny will go to Ukraine,” was played repeatedly throughout the show. Military expert Mikhail Khodaryonok, a retired colonel of the Russian army, could not hide his irritation, as he noted: “Let’s not pay attention to the cries of some marginalized representatives of Trump’s wing. By and large, they do not represent the mood within the Republican party. Military aid to Ukraine will continue.” Skabeeva agreed: “The situation will not change for the better and we have to rely solely on ourselves, on the Russian army. The Republicans cannot help us keep Kherson.” Later in the show, he added, “There is not much chance that the amount of funding will change, but an everyday Russian continues to hope and believe. They have never watched the midterms so closely… We trust and believe in the Republicans. Do we have other allies?’
