The Kremlin continues to employ a dual rhetorical strategy, combining economic proposals with implicit military threats, while simultaneously trying to normalize U.S.-Russia relations and restrain Washington’s support for Ukraine.
According to Ukrinform, this is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
It is noted that on October 16-17, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO and key Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev published a series of posts on X, promoting the idea of a potential joint U.S.-Russia economic project.
Analysts believe this move was intended to convince the U.S. President Donald Trump administration that normalizing relations between the two countries would bring economic and political benefits without the need to engage in peace negotiations with Ukraine.
According to researchers, Dmitriev is effectively acting as a “persuasive agent” that the Kremlin uses to strengthen contacts with Trump’s administration. His initiative is likely aimed at attracting media attention and reinforcing the Kremlin’s narrative that bilateral economic cooperation is supposedly a better alternative to peace talks on Ukraine.
The report also notes that on October 17, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin stated that Moscow would consider the provision of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine as a “hostile move” that threatens global security. He reiterated the Kremlin’s ongoing accusations that European states supporting the supply of such missiles are a “war party” opposing a so-called “lasting and just peace.”
Analysts emphasize that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin representatives have repeatedly portrayed the potential transfer of Tomahawks as an act of significant “escalation” in order to deter Western support for Ukraine.
“The Kremlin has consistently relied on veiled and explicit threats, including nuclear saber rattling, and began offering economic incentives to deter Western aid to Ukraine,” the ISW experts concluded.
As Ukrinform previously reported, ISW assesses that the possible delivery of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would not cause significant escalation from Russia, and their use would be mirroring Russia’s long-range cruise missile strikes on Ukraine.
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