Larry Johnson: Russia’s Trust in Trump and the US is Fading Fast

by Larry Johnson [2-9-2026] Larry C. Johnson(bio).

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, gave a remarkable assessment of the emerging new economic order, the war in Ukraine and the unreliability of the United States as a negotiating partner in an interview with TV BRICS, which was published on February 9, 2026. Overall, he expressed no optimism for economic ties with the US, seeing no “bright” or “rosy” future there despite openness to cooperation in principle, while blaming the US for sabotaging relations and progress on Ukraine despite Trump’s stated desire to end the war. And that was just for starters.

Foreign Minister Lavrov accused the United States of no longer being willing to implement its own proposals on Ukraine that were discussed during the August 2025 summit in Anchorage, Alaska (between Presidents Putin and Trump). Lavrov claimed Russia accepted the US proposal there, and if approached “like men” (or straightforwardly), the issue should have been resolved. Instead, he said Washington has backtracked, continuing policies like new sanctions, actions against Russian oil tankers (e.g., seizures by US forces), and blocking Russian energy exports. He also stated that after Anchorage, Russia and the US were supposed to move toward broad cooperation, but the opposite occurred, with the US creating “artificial barriers” and pursuing “economic dominance.”

Lavrov reiterated Russia’s core demands for any settlement: eliminating the “Nazi foundations” of Ukraine (a reference to Russia’s longstanding “denazification” narrative), ensuring Russia’s security by preventing any weapons on Ukrainian territory that could threaten Russia, and effectively controlling aspects of Ukraine’s post-war military size, composition, and armament. He emphasized that Russia’s security requires addressing these, including in regions like Crimea, Donbas, and “Novorossiya.”

Here are the key paragraphs from the interview regarding the war in Ukraine:

We are told that the Ukrainian problem needs to be resolved. In Anchorage, we accepted the United States’ proposal. If we approach it in a “masculine” way, they proposed it, and we agreed, which means that the problem needs to be resolved. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that it does not matter to Russia what is said in Ukraine or Europe, as we are well aware of the “cave-like” Russophobia of most regimes in the European Union, with a few notable exceptions. The position of the United States was crucial for us. By accepting their proposal, we seem to have fulfilled the task of resolving the Ukrainian issue and moving on to full-scale, broad, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

So far, in practice, everything looks the opposite: new sanctions are being introduced, a “war” is being waged against tankers on the high seas in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. India and other our partners are trying to be forbidden to buy cheap, affordable Russian energy resources (Europe has long been banned) and forced to buy American liquefied natural gas at exorbitant prices. That is, in the economic field, the Americans have declared the task of economic domination.

In addition to the fact that they seem to have proposed something about Ukraine, and we were ready (now they are not ready), we also do not see any “radiant” future in the economic sphere. The Americans want to take over all the routes of providing all the leading countries and all the continents with energy resources. On the European continent, they are “looking” at the Nord Streams that were blown up three years ago, at the Ukrainian gas transportation system, and at the Turkish Stream.

There was some doubt among some pundits in the West whether Russia had hardened its position after the December 28, 2025 drone attack on the official residence of Vladimir Putin in Valdai. I think Lavrov’s remarks to the BRICS journalist settles that question… The Russians are pissed off at Trump and his administration because Trump has not kept his promises to the Russians.

If Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner make another trip to Russia, they are not likely to be warmly greeted by their Russian hosts. The Russians will be polite but, based on Lavrov’s remarks, they will demand substantive gestures that Trump will deliver what he has promised. Unless Trump moves soon to start lifting sanctions on Russia, ending the confiscation of Russian assets and following through on the promises made at Anchorage regarding the war in Ukraine, I believe that Vladimir Putin will conclude that further negotiations with Trump’s boys is a complete waste of time.

While much of the media coverage of Lavrov’s remarks have focused on his clear frustration with Trump for failing to settle the war with Ukraine, Lavrov provided a master class on the economic transformation that is underway:

We are currently witnessing a transformation on the global stage, which began some time ago due to the objective transition to a multipolar world, where it is no longer a bipolar world, as was the case during the Soviet Union and the United States, the Warsaw Pact, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, nor a unipolar world, as was the case after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but rather a multipolar world that determines the course of humanity’s development. For many years, the United States has been the driving force behind the global economy, regulating global finances, and using the role of the dollar to strengthen its dominant position. They are already objectively losing their economic influence and their weight in the global economy. At the same time, countries such as the People’s Republic of China, India, and Brazil are rising. There are interesting processes taking place on the African continent, as Africans are increasingly reluctant to export their natural resources and are instead building their own industries, which the Soviet Union began to support.

Many centers of rapid economic growth, centers of power, financial and political influence have emerged. The world is being reformatted. This happens in competition. The West does not want to give up its once dominant position. Moreover, with the advent of the Trump administration, this struggle to suppress competitors has become particularly explicit and open. As a matter of fact, the administration in Washington under D. Trump does not hide these ambitions. They say that they should dominate the energy sector and limit their competitors.

They are using completely unfair methods against us. They are banning the work of Russian oil companies such as Lukoil and Rosneft. They are trying to control our trade, investment cooperation, and military-technical ties with Russia’s major strategic partners, such as India and other BRICS members.

There is a battle going on to preserve the old world order, which was based on the dollar and the rules that the West created and implemented in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. When new centers of growth began to achieve much more significant economic development and significantly higher growth rates based on these same rules (as we see in the BRICS countries), the West began to look for ways to prevent this transition. However, this is impossible because it is an objective process. For several years now, the growth rates and GDP volumes of the BRICS countries have significantly exceeded the GDP of the G7 countries combined in terms of purchasing power parity.

A new economic and political order is being assembled, piece-by-piece, with Russia and China working as partners and leading the way. The reign of US hegemony is dead… The only way America can be “Great Again” is that it must reject militarism and violence and turn instead to adopting policies that are based on genuine collaboration with the BRICS nations. Lavrov was not expressing his opinion in this interview… He was explaining how the government of Vladimir Putin views the world. Will Trump listen and comprehend the message? I doubt it.