However, this scenario is still a far cry from complete Russian control over Ukraine, or a significant shift in Russia’s position in Europe. It feels like a more temporary solution than Moscow would like — or, as most influential Kremlin foreign policy practitioners admit, it’s no Yalta.
But the truth is, this deal isn’t really meant to lead to sustainable peace — that was never the goal. Trump may believe in his second American revolution, but his interlocutors in Moscow don’t. They’re far more convinced of the deep state’s indestructibility than any conspiracy theorist in the U.S. And they believe this deep state has always been, and always will be, hostile to Russia.
In the absence of any real ideology, the Kremlin has made ressentiment its creed — a mix of pride in the former Russian empire, whether under czars or Soviet commissars, and a strong sense of grievance and injustice toward the treacherous West. And as with any ideology, it comes with a clear narrative about what went wrong and who’s to blame.
An integral of part of this mentality is a strong sense of history, understood as a collection of centuries worth of grievances, leading to the widely held belief that Russia is doomed to perpetually fight the West, in one form or another, until one side achieves total victory. And the Kremlin is certain the West has always been after Russia’s complete destruction, starting with the crusaders sent by the Pope to invade Orthodox Russia in the 13th century.
In short, real peace with the West is unachievable; only periodic interludes are possible. And Russia, always a besieged fortress, cannot have true allies. The famous line attributed to Czar Alexander III in the late 19th century — that “Russia has just two allies, the armed forces and the navy” — has been cited proudly and incessantly, and it resonates deeply with Putin.
As a consequence of this narrative, Russia doesn’t really feel like a world pariah either — not only because of the support it receives from China, but because its elites don’t believe in the concept of true allies or the long-standing treaties such relationships allow.
