"Russia will respond to the expansion of US sanctions" - said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergej Ryabkow

Mr Ryabkow didn't define what kind of steps and when they will be taken. He enunciated his hope for the new administration in White House to be more "responsible" in making decisions about relations with Russia.  Minister Ryabkov said that now it is necessary to look ahead and focus on a positive agenda.

Focusing on future is for sure the main factor of current Russian strategy for US. Optimistic, but not enthusiastic statements of Kremlin administration could be called in Russian popular saying “поживём – увидим” (wait and see). Russia is waiting for the crucial names in Donald Trump’s administration, first decisions and official statements. Till this time, Russia sends warm words about positive change in White House.

In totally different way Russian administration speaks about European and NATO leaders. It’s hard to resist impression that this is a part of intelligent and targeted strategy to drive a wedge between Brussels and Washington. In the newspapers we can see smiling face of Donald Trump and pictures of nervous European politicians. In expert analysis there is a “clever” and “responsible” Donald Trump and “clowns” from NATO. Looking through the language of the articles and information in main Russian media, it is obvious who is for Kremlin a respected partner and whom they don’t value much.

Rossijskaja Gazieta in the article  „Почему Евросоюз вновь не договорился о создании европейской армии” (Why does the EU again not agreed to establish a European army) writes openly about European leaders as a losers, who mislaid their sovereignty and count only for help from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Europe, as the author says, doesn’t want to take responsibility for their own safety or even participate in its costs(in this point he’s right, Germany and Baltic Countries still don’t reach the recommended level of 2%GDP spent on defense). Except clowns and losers, there are also paranoid countries in European Union, shaking with fear of Russian aggression. Obviously that shows disrespect that Russia has for the European leaders.

Russian authorities never in its history respected indecisive leaders. They were also often trying to divide and set one opponent against the other. EU leaders and Donald Trump’s new administration should be aware of this strategy. Finally, the striking conclusion is that EU must learn to speak with one, strong voice, together with new US President as well as became an active player in Realpolitik game.