As Vladimir Putin’s bloody war in Ukraine crosses the 100-day mark, the Kremlin appears to be abandoning all pretensions to diplomacy. There are several reasons why Moscow abandoned its initial half-hearted attempts to negotiate with Ukraine, including tangible gains on the battlefront and the dwindling attention span of Western media. But if Russian state television is any indication, another reason Putin’s regime is now rejecting the idea of ​​a diplomatic resolution has to do with the approaching midterm elections in the United States.

When the state TV show last aired Sunday evening with Vladimir Solovyov, the participants discussed the price that Russia would ultimately have to pay for its plan to conquer Ukraine. In various state media, the US midterm elections have been mentioned as a potential saving grace that could end US support for Ukraine and loosen the screws on sanctions against Russia. On Solovyov’s show, Andrey Sidorov, vice-dean for global politics at Moscow State University, asked, “Are we going to rely on their election stakes? Will anything change if the Republicans win in November in the United States?

The host, Vladimir Solovyov, responded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, a lot of things will change. They will calmly say, ‘Why do we have to be involved and send so much of our own money?’ aeration statements showing dissent within the GOP over US support for Ukraine, often featuring excerpts from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, as well as comments made at public hearings and appearances in the media by former US President Donald Trump, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Senator Rand Paul, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Echoing popular Republican talking points on Ukraine, Soloviev predicted, “Republicans will come and say, why the hell do we need a corrupt Nazi Ukraine? They will ask: who are we supporting? Yes, Russia is bad and the sanctions will remain, but why do we have to keep throwing so much money there? Our schools are underfunded, we have a lot of our own problems. Instead of fortifying the border with Mexico, helping our small businesses, we gave this money to corrupt Ukraine and no one knows where it went.

So far, Western calls for diplomacy appear to have only encouraged Russia to step up its military offensive, as they are seen as a sign of desperation. During the Sunday broadcast of Solovyov’s show, Sidorov explained: “In my opinion, the talks on negotiations are designed to maintain this conflict. A ceasefire is needed to ensure the transition from Soviet-style weapons of Ukrainian forces – of which they are already depleted – to Western-style weapons. They need time. They need corridors to move around. Under no circumstances should we agree to negotiate.

Solovyov agreed. “We don’t need any kind of negotiation, because time is on our side and the tempo is on our side… They’re arming themselves [Ukrainians] with NATO systems… if they get howitzers from here, howitzers from there, who is going to fix them? ” he said. “If you train artillery specialists, but then you find that you need not only ammunition, but also spare parts and repairmen, you need power, you have to maintain the whole of the system… it’s a headache… They need years to deal with this and not just a ceasefire.

Monday The evening with Vladimir Solovyov, the host featured a clip of former Russian state media favorite Tucker Carlson: “Let me show you how Biden gets beaten up by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.” In the clip, Carlson ridicules US President Joe Biden for his failure to destroy Russia’s economy, “in retaliation for installing Donald Trump as President.” Solovyov likened Carlson’s rant to that of Chinese government officials – a dubious honor for any self-respecting American TV host. Trump’s election statement aside, the rhetoric Soloviev quoted almost mimicked Carlson’s claims about Russia’s booming economy, supposedly thriving despite Western sanctions. As the Russian economy struggles, the Kremlin-funded media is rebroadcasting helpful agitprop from foreign entities to convince the public that everything is going according to plan. to plan.

It is clear that Western media coverage played a major role in Moscow’s thinking. During Tuesday’s broadcast, Solovyov explained, “We are moving as fast as possible, given the realities of the military circumstances and our intention to minimize our casualties. This is why the mood in the West has changed so drastically. While they thought in recent days that it was done, they now want to negotiate and tell Ukraine to accept the loss of its territories… The mood has certainly changed. This is a long-term war, not in terms of a special operation, but in terms of our war against the West, there is no doubt about that.

“I’m going to start by talking about who is losing the war, in terms of our confrontation with the West, even if the main battles have only just begun…just read the Western press, they are all convinced that they have already lost,” added political analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky. “It’s so surprising, I was amazed by it: there’s real panic… It’s like the floodgates have been opened.”