The aim of the NATO historical summit in Hague was, among other things, to demonstrate the unity of members and the determination to invest much more in defense than today. But how did his results be understood in Russia?
Aktuality.sk looked at the reactions of Russian political scientists or statements of Russian diplomacy. Unlike the West, the Russians tried to point out inconsistency and that then it is mainly about humiliated Russia. The front representative of diplomacy even reached for conspiracy theory.
While the official performances of NATO leaders were full of big words about unity and historical, according to Russian analysts, the atmosphere behind the scenes in the Hague was far from being so harmonious. “Everyone pretended to be in the best order,” after the summit, Russian political scientist Malek Dudakov.
It is this need for unity (at least externally), according to Russian experts, dominated the progress. A real reason? Keeping US President Donald Trump in peace, without explosions of anger or early departure. “Some time ago it was right that the brain’s brain died. It was a poor performance. Horror,” says Aleksandr Nosovič, a member of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council.
The Russians’ reaction to the NATO Summit in the Hague came immediately. While the West leaders spoke of a “positive transformation”, another interpretation prevailed in Moscow. “The NATO Summit sealed the return of the alliance to its original anti -Russian nature,” spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zacharovova.
Zacharovova drew attention to the formulation of Z, where NATO talks about the need to “protect a billion citizens of the Member States”. Zacharova interpreted these words as a reference to the so -called. “Golden Billion”.
In fact, it is a conspiracy theory that the developed Western countries are trying to maintain their privileged global position at the expense of the poorer and which enjoyed popularity in Russia. “Apparently this is the legendary ‘golden billion’ whose superiority is desperately trying to keep the collective West,” the Russian diplomat noted.
Explanation of the sentence from the Declaration is easier: 32 NATO Member States have a skill of approximately 970 million inhabitants, ie less than a billion.
Zacharova also strongly criticized the decision to increase defense spending, as NATO countries have committed at least 5 percent of GDP at 2035. At present, the average is around 2 percent. However, the Russian side considers this as a result of the pressure of the United States, not as a voluntary decision of the Allies.
Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov was strongly criticized by NATO as dangerous and West that he needs to “think of a demonic threat” to justify his steps.
Another camp of Russian diplomats claims something else
According to Russian political scientist Alexei Česnakov, the tone of Western rhetoric towards Moscow has changed visibly compared to last year. “Strong, hard and uncompromising words that used Moscow in 2024 did not sound in 2025,” Cesnakov.
Malek Dudakov also claims that the attempt of European countries to enforce tightening of sanctions against Russia failed – Donald Trump’s team simply did not support them. As it recalls, this time was not to talk about commercial and tariff wars.
Some Russian media have interpreted events at the Hague’s summit as evidence of the increasing internal weakness of the North Atlantic Alliance. The commentary, which circled among the most read Russian news channels, says that the summit “dominates cowardice” – not to the external enemy, but to his own partner.
Before the summit, speculation was spreading that US President Donald Trump could announce a reduction in US military presence in Europe. This scenario has raised concerns, especially in Central and Eastern European countries, which perceive US troops as a key pillar of their safety. In the end, however, such a decision was not made.
Despite Russian comments, the summit was also talked about sanctions. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Tuesday’s dinner of diploma chiefs indicated that the US is likely to be likely to deal with legislation on tightening sanctions against Russia – as soon as it ends the work on the so -called. “Big Beautiful Bill” (a large and nice law), a tax-expense package of President Donald Trump.
Rubio also that Russia is the main reason why peace talks about Ukraine are not moving forward. However, he defended the attitude of Trump’s administration, which refused to immediately extend sanctions against Moscow. “If we do what everyone expects from us – to crush them with other sanctions, we would probably lose the opportunity to talk to them at all,” Rubio said in an interview with Politico.
EU leaders agreed on Thursday that existing sanctions will extend for another six months. However, Robert Fico plans to veto 18 sanctions. The reason is the pressure of the EU to cut off from Russian energy carriers.
At a time when the Western governments are continuing to put pressure on Russia through sanctions, Moscow repeatedly that it is not affected. According to Russian diplomacy and government officials, the West is a political game in which the courage to admit failure is lacking.
What is the economic reality? Russia is weak
Since its illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has become a state with the largest number of sanctions in the world, but its economy is still remarkably resistant, but not long and the next year the Russian economy should have serious problems.
Economic growth in Russia is powered by record military expenses of the Kremlin. The volume of oil exports from the country has also remained relatively stable, as the supplies that were once intended for Europe were redirected to China and India. And the “shadow fleet” of the tankers whose ownership and movement were to be secret, and which he has now been striking at the Fico Sum, helped Moscow circumvent sanctions in other areas.
But Russia is coming out, analysts say.
Inflation in the country is still high, interest rates have climbed to absurd 20 % and businesses cannot find the necessary workers. And on the global scale of oil prices this year fell again, while the current conflict between Israel and Iran has not caused a sharp rise in the prices of fossil fuels on which Russia is dependent
Mr. Kremlin vs. Master of Agreements
While most reports have focused on NATO Summit and the US pressure on increasing defense spending, another, not yet solved question – a contradiction between Trump and Putin, continues to open in the Russian media.
As Russian analysts interpret, Trump simply does not understand Putin. A former merchant, who prides himself on an agreement, result and visible win, does not understand the willingness of the Kremlin to wage war for years without a clear end. “Busnismen does not understand KGB officer,” German portal Deutche Welle.
