After the attack on Iran: First Maduro and Khamenei, then Putin? Russia sees itself threatened by the actions of the USA against its opponents. This also has consequences for Ukraine.
March 4, 2026, 10:57 p.mMarch 4, 2026, 10:57 p.m
When Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, many hardliners in Moscow were cautiously optimistic. They hoped that Trump’s unpredictability and penchant for deals could play into Russia’s hands in the Ukraine conflict.
Donald Trump: Russia’s hardliners see him as a threat.Image: keystone
But after the recent US attacks on Iran and the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the tide has changed. Many representatives of a tough course in the Russian security apparatus now see Trump as a growing threat to Russia itself. They question whether the US President is actually, as expected, the pragmatic power politician with whom one can pursue real politics.
Some hardliners are now publicly calling for Moscow to break off US-brokered peace talks with Ukraine and instead step up the military offensive in the country. They argue that the nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran, which preceded the US-Israel air war, were merely a cynical deception. That proved that Washington could not be trusted.
Russian hardliner calls Trump a “monster”
“The unprincipled United States is a threat to the whole world,” said nationalist tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev, who is married to a top Kremlin official. “Yes, (the US) wants a weak Europe. But they also want a weak Russia.”
Konstantin Malofeev (l.) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: It is not only the former who sees a threat in the USA. image: IMAGO / Sergei Savostyanov
Boris Roschin, an influential military blogger who has nearly 800,000 followers on Telegram under the name “Colonel Cassad,” described Trump as a “monster” driven mad by impunity. Seriously relying on agreements with him would be “either stupidity or betrayal.”
The prominent academic Andrei Sidorov described Trump as a “dangerous man” on state television and expressed his regret that Trump survived an assassination attempt in July 2024 a few months before his election. “Now we understand who rules the world,” said Sidorov. “If you look at what Trump is doing now, step by step – practically no one can stop him.” Russia is stuck in Ukraine. And the main opponent, the USA, is now acting as a mediator there.
Kremlin avoids personal criticism of Trump
The Kremlin still hopes that Trump might be helpful in ending the war in Ukraine on Russian terms and ushering in a broader rapprochement between Washington and Moscow. And so Moscow officially condemned the US actions against Iran as “unprovoked aggression”. However, he avoided personal criticism of Trump.
Donald Trump: Russia’s leadership avoids direct criticism of the US President.image: IMAGO / Celal Gunes
There has also been no material assistance for Tehran that goes beyond diplomatic support. However, according to experts, Moscow’s options to provide Iran with military support in this phase are limited anyway, especially since Russia itself imports and uses Iranian drone technology.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, the leadership in Moscow said that continuing peace talks was in its own interest. In doing so, the Kremlin signaled that it is maintaining its difficult balancing act, at least for the time being: On the one hand, it does not want to completely mess up with Trump. On the other hand, Moscow wants to continue to openly criticize those political steps that it rejects.
Moscow could benefit from rising oil prices
Some also see a potential silver lining in the escalation in the Middle East. Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy to President Vladimir Putin, raised the possibility of rising oil prices to the benefit of Russia’s strained budget. According to some Russian analysts, Moscow could also benefit in Ukraine: If the conflict in the Middle East continues, the USA could be forced to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and ammunition to the Gulf states rather than to Ukraine.
Nevertheless, the hawks’ harsh criticism reflects deep uncertainty in Russia’s security policy establishment. There one observes how an increasingly aggressive US president is systematically eliminating Moscow’s allies while Russia is tied up in Ukraine.
Nicolás Maduro: At the beginning of January, the US military kidnapped Venezuela’s head of state to New York.image: Kyle Mazza / Zuma Press / dpa
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rivals in December 2024 and their leader was subsequently praised by Trump in the White House. In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro was arrested in his own country by US troops in January and Khamenei was recently killed in a joint military strike by the US and Israel. Developments surrounding its long-time ally Cuba, which Washington is increasingly targeting, are also cause for concern in Moscow.
For some Russian hardliners, the fates of key Moscow allies are raising alarm bells. They fear that Trump could one day turn directly against Russia. The US President has never indicated that such a scenario is on his agenda. Nevertheless, the ultranationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, who once praised Trump as a great hope for Russia, urges caution. «If Iran holds out, everything could develop in the other direction. If he collapses, we’ll be next… It’s better not to have anything to do with today’s Trump,” Dugin concluded.
Sources used:
- Reuters news agency