New US security strategy

US tones down rhetoric against Russia in new strategy – welcomed by Kremlin

The Kremlin welcomes the US's softer tone towards Russia in the country's new national security strategy published on Friday, reports Reuters.

Russia is usually described as a "direct threat", but the revised strategy instead calls for limited cooperation between the countries.

- We believe this is a welcome step, says Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, to Russian state-controlled media.

The strategy states that it is "of the greatest interest" for the US to quickly end the war in Ukraine and "restore strategic stability with Russia", writes SVT Nyheter.

The new strategy has received a lot of attention, not least because the US describes Europe as a continent facing "civilizational annihilation". 

Expert: The image of Europe is “grotesquely exaggerated”

That Europe is facing a “civilizational extinction”, as the US claims in its new security strategy, is “grotesquely exaggerated”. This is what Jan Hallenberg, professor emeritus and expert on US security policy, tells SVT Nyheter.

– According to the document, there is only one region in the world where there are democratic problems and that is in Europe. It is bizarre, he says.

Hallenberg says that Europe has trusted the US “too much and for too long” and that it can no longer count on their help.

The strategy warns of “civilizational extinction” in Europe as a result of immigration, low birth rates and alleged threats to freedom of expression.

Paasikivi: “Shitty” that the US singles out Europe

It is “shitty” that the US in its new security strategy singles out Europe as undemocratic, while toning down the rhetoric against Russia. This is what military expert Joakim Paasikivi tells TV4 Nyheterna.

– The conditions for Russia's future may have changed quite significantly because the US is cooperating so much and collectively wants to break the EU, he says.

In previous security strategies, the US has described Russia as a "direct threat", but now that wording is not included. Instead, the US is calling for limited cooperation between the countries, writes Reuters.

The Kremlin has welcomed the strategy and says that it is "largely compatible with our vision", writes TT.