Following the February 12 phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin ordered its propaganda outlets to reduce reporting about Trump and portray Putin as a “strong and decisive leader.”
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) announced this in a new report., Ukrinform reports.
“Russian opposition news outlet Meduza reported on February 14 that the Kremlin instructed Russian state-run and pro-government media outlets to frame Trump and Putin’s February 12 call as Putin’s ‘initiative and victory’ and to use Trump’s name less frequently in coverage of the call and other events,” the report said.
Meduza reported that the Kremlin is concerned that the Russian public might see Trump as a more “proactive and decisive” leader than Putin and wants Russian media to emphasize that Putin alone is responsible for the outcome of negotiations between him and Trump.
An unnamed political strategist in the Russian Presidential Administration told Meduza that the Kremlin does not want the Russian public to perceive Trump as a “strong leader capable of changing the situation” and Putin as a passive or weak leader in comparison.
The political strategist added that the Kremlin also instructed the Russian media to manage the public’s expectations about negotiations to not create “false, overly optimistic expectations.”
The Russian information space has previously portrayed Trump as a pragmatic leader with whom Russia could work, but the Kremlin may be attempting to negatively shift the Russian public’s perception of Trump in order to emphasize Putin’s strength and agency amid reports of possible future peace negotiations and bilateral negotiations.
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2025-02-16 01:30:00 ,
