The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party nominee for the upcoming presidential election, prompted shock, sympathy, and concern from capitals across the world.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wished former U.S. President Donald Trump "a speedy recovery."
The response from the Kremlin stood out.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov began his statement by dismissing something that wasn't under serious discussion – the idea that President Joe Biden and his allies were behind the shooting.
"We do not at all think or believe that the attempt to eliminate presidential candidate Trump was organized by the current government," he said.
"But the atmosphere that this administration created during the political struggle, the atmosphere around candidate Trump provoked what America is faced with today."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova took the rhetoric one step further, urging the U.S. to "carefully re-evaluate its policy of inciting hatred toward political opponents, nations and people, as well as sponsor terrorism."
"The US must carefully re-evaluate its policy of inciting hatred toward political opponents, nations, and people, as well as sponsoring terrorism," she said.
Zakharova was baselessly claiming that U.S. contributions to Ukraine were the reason why the assassination was possible.
Vladimir Solovyov, the country's leading propagandist and anchor on the Russia 1 channel, said, "This is it! This is a tragedy for (President Volodymyr) Zelensky.”
On Solovyov's personal channel, Solovyov Live, speakers went further, directly linking Ukraine to the attack.
"It’s transparently hypocritical, of course, but the Kremlin doesn’t care as long as there are those in the U.S. believe it," John Foreman CBE, the U.K.'s former defense attache in Moscow from 2019 to 2022, told the Kyiv Independent.
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"I think the Russian response plays into a pattern of political warfare behavior in Europe, sewing political division to gain strategic advantage," Foreman says.
"Russia wants Trump to win, who they hope will quickly bring an end to military support to Ukraine and force a peace deal (actually surrender) onto Ukraine."
"Hence stirring even greater discord in the U.S. and fury among Trump’s base – by pointing the finger at the incumbent Biden – works towards this goal," he added.
Foreman said he does not believe the Kremlin's current attempt to sow discord in the U.S. by monopolizing on the attempted Trump assassination will work but points out it is simply part of wider efforts across the Western world.
"The same tactic has been allegedly used in France to stir racial and political tension by drawing the star of David on the French holocaust memorial, and dividing Europe by funding political opponents."
And even if he thinks it might not work this time, he adds that Russia will never miss an opportunity to try.
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