February 21, 12 noon Moscow time: This is the time Vladimir Putin has scheduled his big appearance. For the first time since 2021, the head of the Kremlin wants to give a speech to the Federal Assembly, Russia’s bicameral parliament. For a week people have been wondering what he might have to say. Suddenly Joe Biden is walking through Kiev. The surprise coup succeeded. So close to his big performance, Biden spoils the show for the Russian commander-in-chief.
Joe Biden is the first US President to visit Ukraine since George W. Bush. In the middle of the war. For his secret trip to Kiev, Biden had cloaked his native Washington in utter ignorance. Afterwards, however, the White House announced that contact had been made with Moscow shortly before the trip. “We have notified the Russians that President Biden is going to Kiev,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who was accompanying the president. The notification was made “a few hours” before Biden’s departure to avoid conflicts.
Due to the “sensitive nature of the exchange,” Sullivan said he declined to elaborate on the nature of the notification or Russia’s response. The White House plans to release details at a later date.
However, Kremlin propaganda is now using the warning from the White House to spin a new legend. The version that is now echoing almost the same wording across all channels: Putin has given Biden permission to visit Kiev.
“Biden received the security guarantees for his trip to Kiev in Moscow. That’s all you need to know about the sovereignty of Ukraine,” Yevgeny Popov began the program “60 Minutes” on Monday evening, which, contrary to its title, lasts five hours a day is broadcast.
“And the Russians kept their word,” Popov concluded, given Biden’s unmolested trip. “Zelensky almost died of happiness in the arms of the American hegemon,” his wife and co-host Olga Skabeeva scoffed.
“Biden 100 percent aligned with us, called, and bowed. Please let him go,” studio guest Leonid Kalashnikov explained, only to launch into a 20-minute dialogue about the merits of communism. Not surprising given that he has been a member of the Russian Duma for the Communist Party since 2010.
He hopes that Putin will explain in his speech “how within ten years we can catch up on the 100 years that we are lagging behind” – to use Stalin’s words. At these words, Skabeeva couldn’t help but look down, embarrassed. “Yes, we are behind them. But not in our potential. We have gas, oil, everything,” Kalashnikov hastened to specify.
“The Americans probably think that we won’t stand up to anyone if they send their Biden to Ukraine,” Skabeeva wondered in the morning edition, when the US President suddenly posed in front of the blue sky in Kiev. “Or did someone give them security guarantees? Did we give them?” she asked the self-proclaimed military expert Yevgeny Bushinsky. “Yes, of course we did.”
“But what for?” Skabeeva replied perplexed. “Of course we could kill Biden, but that would probably be a bit too much,” said Buschinsky. An answer that the propagandist did not like. “So killing off Biden would be too much. But threatening Putin is normal? And blowing up Nord Stream 2 is also ok?” She asked her guest. “What’s the logic?”
“Ok, we kill Biden? But who will replace him? This Harris. Biden can still think a little despite his dementia. He still has certain limits. She has no limits at all,” said Buschinsky, explaining the logic in the Kremlin’s narrative – Propaganda to explain why Moscow allowed Biden to visit Kiev. “I’m sure he got guarantees from us,” Buschinsky adds, to drum this version into the last viewer. “He should have only come by helicopter, as he usually does. And our planes should have accompanied him to Kiev. That would have made more of an impression,” Buschinsky dreamed of his daydream.
But Skabeeva would have preferred to see Biden “killed”. “The special operation in Ukraine has been going on for almost a year now. The goals are far from being achieved. There are huge numbers of dead. The collective West and the US are behaving as if we are unable to launch a reactive strike ‘ she admitted surprisingly candidly at first glance. But behind these words is nothing more than another narrative of Kremlin propaganda that has been pushed in recent weeks. Russia has not really started yet, is the explanation for the previous defeats.
“We continue to demonstrate our love for peace and continue to wear white gloves,” Skabeeva picked up on this tale. “Let’s remember the words of the President: We haven’t really started yet. But we could,” trumpeted the talk master and perhaps provided the through ball for Putin’s appearance.
