Putin henchman’s ominous rebuke of UK shows Russia ‘using Trump to divide the West’

One of Vladimir Putin's henchmen has issued an ominous rebuke of the UK, which experts suggest points to Russia using Donald Trump to divide the West. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says the country's officials "continue to capitalise on the Trump administration's statements and actions in an attempt to divide the United States and Europe".

In an article published yesterday, Putin's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov claimed the "ultraliberal ruling elites of the West," support Ukraine and EU countries and the UK maintains "predatory, colonial habits." He did not mention the US. This was "likely in an attempt to drive a perceived ideological wedge between the United States and Europe", the ISW suggests. In additon, experts note that Lavrov's deployment of a "ruling elites" narrative "echoes" Putin's February 27 claim that "some Western elites" are trying to "maintain instability" in the world and will try to "disrupt or compromise" US–Russian negotiations.

The ISW added: "Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on March 10 that the UK government is prioritising 'undermining Trump's peace efforts' and has tasked non-governmental organizations with 'demonising' Trump.

"The SVR notably made such claims ahead of the UK’s hosting of a virtual meeting on March 15 with mainly European and British commonwealth countries to support a ceasefire agreement."

It added this strategy was likely an attempt to leverage concessions from the Trump administration.

Experts wrote: "Russian officials are likely attempting to leverage Trump administration statements and actions to divide the United States and Europe and will likely continue such efforts to secure maximum concessions on Ukraine from the US, Europe, and Ukraine as well as to fracture the US-Europe relationship to Russia’s benefit."

Meanwhile, Russian forces are "consolidating their gains in Kursk Oblast and likely preparing to attack Sudzha in the coming days", and "Russia continues to publicly claim that it wants peace while offering no concessions of its own in sharp contrast with the concessions Ukraine has already offered".

Moscow was hit by Ukrainian drones as part of a huge attack on Russia overnight, as officials are due to meet with US representatives in Saudi Arabia for talks today.

At least one person has died, officials claim, with more than 70 drones targeted at the Russian capital reportedly shot down.

Overall, Russia says it shot down 337 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions.