The latest U.S. national security strategy has deeply touched the heart of Russia. The Kremlin spokesperson highly praised it, saying that the U.S. and Russia are thinking along the same lines.

(Russia praises the new U.S. national security strategy)

On December 7 local time, two days after the release of the U.S.'s latest "National Security Strategy," Russia finally took action.

Russian President's Press Secretary Peskov directly stated when mentioning the issue that he welcomed this new national security strategy by Trump, which is "basically consistent" with Moscow's vision.

The "vision of Moscow" mentioned by Peskov refers to a sentence in the Strategy: ending the perception of NATO as a permanent expansionist alliance and preventing this reality from occurring.

From Russia's perspective, this is equivalent to the Trump administration making a commitment in the document to "end NATO's permanent expansion."

This means that Ukraine will not only be unable to join NATO, but will also become a "strategic buffer zone" between Russia and NATO, which is one of the purposes of Russia's special military operation.

Now that the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine has not been signed, the U.S. has made such a commitment, which is undoubtedly a major benefit for Russia. They no longer have to worry day and night about NATO expanding to their doorstep one day.

Peskov highly evaluated it, saying, "This is encouraging."

However, from a practical perspective, Russia is being too optimistic.

(Ukraine's NATO dream shattered)

We should note that this "Strategy" is only the U.S. national security strategy, not the action plan of NATO, and it is not written into a legally binding agreement of NATO.

The Trump national security strategy represents only the will of the United States.

It simply requires that the U.S. internal form a consensus, no longer regard NATO as an organization that can expand infinitely, and hopes that U.S. politicians can end this idea.

But obviously, from the perspective of NATO, other countries will not agree to this.

In particular, European countries are currently very concerned about the "threat" posed by Russia. At this moment, the U.S. trying to reduce the importance of NATO is like stepping on their sensitive spot.

Therefore, it is likely to be a long process for the Trump administration to push forward the non-expansion of NATO at the legal level.

Nevertheless, for Russia, this is still a significant benefit. After all, the U.S. dominates NATO, and most countries want to join NATO because they want to eat the "big pot meal" led by the U.S.: the pot is made by the U.S., and the meal is cooked by the U.S.

Countries that joined NATO saved countless defense funds in the past two decades after the Cold War, while the U.S. bore a heavy burden.

(The U.S. does not want to bear most of NATO's defense responsibilities anymore)

Now, Trump doesn't want to take responsibility for this big pot meal anymore. He not only demands members increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP, but also calls for the abandonment of NATO expansion.

This makes it difficult for other countries to join NATO, and after the U.S. refuses to take on so much defense responsibility, the appeal of NATO will be greatly reduced.

After all, if the U.S. stops taking care of things, do you expect European countries to take the lead?

If Europe really had the strength and ability, Ukraine wouldn't have been defeated in the conflict like this. Therefore, when the U.S. reduces its attention to NATO, even if Europe keeps arguing, it can't stop the fact that NATO gradually declines.

The U.S. is essentially helping Russia eliminate a major threat. Naturally, Russia is overjoyed.

Another point in this "Strategy" that excites Russia is that the U.S. explicitly states that their goal is to quickly end the war between Russia and Ukraine, rather than seeking a "prolonged resistance" path for Ukraine as during the Biden administration.

This means that the U.S. has made a complete turn in the issue of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is consistent with Russia's wish to end the conflict as soon as possible.

At the same time, the U.S. clearly refused to list Russia as a threat to American interests, instead accusing Europe of hindering the peace between Russia and Ukraine and facing the danger of civilization's extinction. This is exactly what Russia wants, as if the U.S. and Russia are allies, and Europe is their common enemy.

Therefore, Russia has found what it wanted, and Peskov even stated that he would review this national security strategy in more detail and analyze its provisions.

(Russia gets the promise it most wants)

For Russia, the biggest benefit is not immediate security guarantees, but the strategic gap released by the clear withdrawal of the U.S. leadership will.

If the concept of NATO expansion is loosened under U.S. influence, it will fundamentally undermine the expansion inertia of the alliance.

Although European countries will strongly resist, once they lose the full support of the U.S. in military commitments and strategic resources, the collective action capability and deterrent credibility of NATO will inevitably be damaged, and its expansion process will effectively come to a standstill.

At the same time, the U.S. clearly shifting its policy focus to "promoting a quick ceasefire" means that the external aid and strategic determination that Kyiv can rely on will undergo a qualitative change.

This does not mean that Russia can easily achieve all its military goals, but it significantly increases its leverage in future negotiations and may accelerate the conflict toward a frozen situation based on the current status.

In the long term, this document signals a key shift: the U.S. is trying to shed its role as the "pillar" of the European security architecture after the Cold War.

This process is destined to be filled with contention and back-and-forth, but it opens up a new era - Europe will be forced to face its own defense capability deficit, while Russia gains a historical window to re-plan its security frontier in front of a more loose and decentralized Western alliance.

The Kremlin's review and analysis are preparing for this uncertain situation.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7581432126592107059/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.