Kremlin calls US ‘an enemy’ for first time

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has referred to the United States as an “enemy” while talking to reporters on Tuesday. However, it remains unclear if the change of rhetoric signals an official policy change as the spokesman had previously argued that only President Vladimir Putin can make such decisions.

Washington’s refusal to allow former US Marine, UN weapons inspector and RT contributor Scott Ritter to travel to St Petersburg was “the latest manifestation of the rabid campaign to prevent US citizens from interacting with the Russian Federation” – which would only be “understandable” if it was somehow related to his former intelligence status, Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

“We are now an enemy country for them – much like they are for us,” Peskov said, noting that restrictions for former intelligence officers, especially on travel “to a hostile country,” are common all across the world.

The Kremlin previously called the United States and other Western countries that have supported and armed Kiev and imposed sanctions against Moscow as “unfriendly states” and “opponents.” The subtle change of rhetoric follows Washington’s decision to let Kiev use American weapons against targets deeper inside Russia, beyond what the US considers Ukrainian territory.

Back in March, Peskov noted that Moscow does not like US officials who keep insulting President Putin, but in general there are “no anti-American sentiments” in Russia, expressing hope that “sooner or later the realization that the peoples of America and Russia are not enemies will eventually come.”

Putin said in January that the elites of the collective West were actually the true enemy of Russia, while Ukraine is a mere tool in their hands. 

“The point is not that they are helping our enemy, but that they are our enemy,” the Russian president said, arguing that the conflict between Moscow and Kiev was orchestrated by Western elites who seek to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

Last month, Putin reiterated that the collective West and “the entire Western community is working for our enemy, dreaming about Russia ceasing to exist in its current form,” but stopped short of branding any particular Western state an ‘enemy’.

While former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, and several other hawkish officials repeatedly branded Moscow’s adversaries as “enemies” over the past two years – Peskov previously said that only President Putin can “formulate and state Russia’s official foreign policy position.”