Kremlins says many see US actions through ‘rose-tinted spectacles,’ urges caution

MOSCOW (Reuters): The Kremlin warned Russians on Tuesday against viewing recent actions towards Ukraine by the administration of US President Donald Trump through “rose-tinted spectacles.”

Speaking at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned against people getting excited about the prospect of Elon Musk cutting off the Ukrainian military from his Starlink communications system or about Trump’s decision last week to suspend military aid to Kyiv.

“Don’t rush to put on rose-tinted spectacles,” Peskov told the audience. “We always need to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. And we must always be ready to defend our interests.”

Peskov issued his warning as US officials prepared to meet with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia later on Tuesday, in part to determine whether Ukraine is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.

Peskov said that Russia was achieving its aims on the battlefield in Ukraine, regardless of what decisions the US was taking. He said the amount of weapons circulating in Ukraine was so large that Kyiv had enough to keep fighting for many months despite the suspension of US deliveries.