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Russia’s MFA Flagship Journal Compares Trump to Hitler, Says West Must Be “Forced” Into Peace by Russian Success

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Vlad Litnarovych
News Writer
A traditional Russian wooden doll, called a Matryoshka doll, depicting Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald Trump at the Red Square in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow on February 28, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)
A traditional Russian wooden doll, called a Matryoshka doll, depicting Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald Trump at the Red Square in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow on February 28, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

A flagship journal of Russia’s Foreign Ministry has ignited controversy after lumping Donald Trump together with Adolf Hitler and declaring that Moscow cannot negotiate peace with the West until it secures a “victory” on the battlefield.

Russia’s official Foreign Ministry journal has published an ideological essay that places US President Donald Trump in the same rhetorical lineage as Adolf Hitler and insists that the Kremlin cannot reach any negotiated settlement with the West until it achieves what the authors describe as a clear, undeniable “victory,” the Russian media Agency reported on November 28.

The article marks one of the most aggressive public statements to emerge from within Russia’s diplomatic establishment in years.

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The piece appears in International Affairs, a monthly journal overseen by Russia’s Foreign Ministry and chaired by Sergei Lavrov. International Affairs has been published under the Russian Foreign Ministry since 1922.

It was written by three officials from the ministry’s Second Department for CIS States—Dmitry Demurin, Anton Postigov, and trainee Timofey Kholin—who frame the war in Ukraine as a confrontation with the same “historical enemies” Russia claims to have faced for centuries.

One of the authors, Dmitry Demurin, has repeatedly written essays portraying the war as existential for Russia and accusing the West of “historical revisionism.”

The Second CIS Department oversees relations with Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus—making its stance particularly notable.

A war framed as a 100-year-old struggle

The authors argue that Russia is fighting “the same enemies who 85, 100, and 200 years ago attacked our homeland,” drawing a direct parallel between the current war in Ukraine and the foreign intervention of 1917.

They describe Western military support for Kyiv as evidence of a vast anti-Russian alliance and claim the closest historical comparison is the international intervention during Russia’s civil war.

Trump, Hitler, Reagan: three quotes, one argument

To make the case that Western attitudes toward Russia have never changed, the authors cite three figures together: Adolf Hitler, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump.

The journal quotes Hitler’s description of the USSR as a “colossus on clay feet,” Reagan’s famous “evil empire” remark, and Trump’s statement that Russia is a “paper tiger.”

According to the article, these quotes prove that Western states “remain unchanged” in their views toward Moscow.

“Victory” as the only path to negotiations

The authors argue that the West will only negotiate with Russia after a definitive military breakthrough, saying that “Without achieving victory or creating military-political conditions that will be unquestionably perceived as victory inside Russia and abroad, forcing the West to negotiate with us will be impossible.”

They go even further, asserting that Europe has historically taken Moscow’s security proposals seriously only when “Russian troops stood in Paris or Berlin.”

The article calls on Russian diplomats to make Western governments “understand all the risks” of escalating with Russia and to study how post-WWII Soviet diplomacy exploited divisions within Western states, claiming that “History teaches that splitting an enemy coalition is sometimes more effective than fighting everyone at once.”

“Burn to the English Channel”

The essay’s title—“Burn to the English Channel?”—is taken from a pro-war Russian song that vows Russia will “burn to the English Channel, then further” and “reach the White House.”

The use of the slogan underscores the increasingly militant framing of Russia’s war narrative in official and quasi-official outlets.

A contrast with public Kremlin messaging

The article’s tone conflicts with recent public attempts by the Kremlin to portray itself as open to negotiation—particularly as the US explores potential diplomatic channels on Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that it views the Trump administration differently from other Western governments and has sought to differentiate Trump from broader Western policy. The journal’s decision to place Trump alongside Hitler directly contradicts that line.

Earlier, reports emerged that editors of state-affiliated outlets were told to emphasize Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic efforts while avoiding excessive praise for US President Donald Trump. They were also instructed to remain flexible in case talks stall.

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