Europe is currently led by a “weak generation” of politicians unable to withstand US President Donald Trump’s “assertiveness,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said in an interview.

He added that the US leader bases his political approach on the principles of tough, ruthless business, using them to defend his own interests and those of his country.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned European countries against accepting “the law of the strongest” and submitting to “vassalization.” He accused the US of undermining European nations’ trade interests with maximalist demands and tariffs that openly aim to weaken and subordinate them. The address followed Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs against any country opposing his Greenland annexation plans.

“Trump remains a proponent of solving everything by force,” Peskov said. “In our view, this is about bending others over the knee – and those who bend will continue to bend.”

“At the same time, such methods ‘do not quite align with our approaches to a multipolar world,” he added.

Peskov believes the changes seen in the world in recent years stem from the double standards and hypocrisy that dominated Europe for decades. In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, he said Europe had been “thrown into an uproar” after Trump made public his correspondence with Macron, adding that no such reaction followed Macron’s own publication of his dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump shared what he claimed was a private message from his French counterpart last week. The text, posted to Trump’s Truth Social account, showed Macron expressing confusion over US plans regarding Greenland and offering to host an emergency G7 meeting in Paris.

In February 2022, days before the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, broadcaster France 2 released a documentary that included details of a confidential call between Macron and Putin.

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