Kremlin elites are said to be “extremely unhappy” with Vladimir Putin over his refusal to accept Donald Trump’s peace proposals. Many of the elite believe the US president’s offer is generous and want a prompt end to the war and a return to normalcy.
The White House unveiled its peace plan for Ukraine back in the spring, hoping to convince the Kremlin to end the fighting. Trump’s proposals envisaged a de jure US recognition of Russian control over Crimea, as well de-facto acceptance of Moscow’s current occupation of four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. In addition, the White House has ruled out Ukraine joining Nato and promised to lift sanctions on Russia that have been imposed since 2014.
Trump also promised enhanced economic cooperation with Russia, particularly in the energy and industrial sectors. However, the Kremlin boss has repeatedly stalled attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, and has escalated Russian attacks in Ukraine.The refusal to consider the US proposals has left many Russian elites seething with anger.
Ilya Ponomarev, a prominent Putin opposition figure with close ties to many Russian elites, told the Express that patience was running out among some of the Kremlin’s most loyal and powerful backers.
“Russian elites are extremely unhappy because Putin is not taking Trump’s offer,” he said. “And that was very clearly seen at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. They’re actually telling Putin stories that the Russian economy is about to plunge into recession, which I don’t think is the case.
“And I don’t see many people who actually believe this in Russia either. But they, nevertheless, are repeating this even at the highest levels – such as (Russian Central Bank governor) Nabiullina and others.
“And the only reason for this is to urge Putin to stop playing games with the military and come back to normalcy. And that’s what Russian elites want. And they’re right now very unhappy because they don’t understand why Putin is not taking Trump’s offer, which they think is very generous.”
Russian elites have increasingly been targeted by the Kremlin in a mini-purge, with their assets coming under growing threat of confiscation. The Kremlin has reappropriated property worth US$49.5 billion from Russian businesses, according to Bloomberg.
Earlier this week, gold tycoon Konstantin Strukov – a long time Putin ally – was prevented from leaving the country and now faces a court case which could see him stripped of his business empire.
Asked whether the purge of elites could lead to an attempt to overthrow Putin, the former Russian MP and entrepreneur said: “I think that, you know, after a while, it may evolve in that direction.”
However, he added that it was unlikely to happen any time soon, because there were still more winners than losers from the system.
“What’s happening is actually a redistribution of property,” he explained. “Putin is taking something from those who have fallen out of favour, but eventually that goes into the hands of those who are in favour.
“So the result is that people are actually competing for the positions to be in favour because they can benefit from that to get more assets for themselves. That’s why it’s not a disruption to loyalty. It’s becomes a disruption to loyalty when too many people lose and too few gain.”
