As I noted the other day, the Kremlin has few if any illusions about potential GAE leadership – of any kind and from anyone.

Donald Trump may be clear-minded when it comes to Russian history, but he started the “sanctions race” with Moscow, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.

In a Fox News interview earlier this week, Trump pointed out that the Russian “war machine” defeated both Napoleon and Hitler, so stopping the Ukraine conflict had to be a priority for him if re-elected. Meanwhile, his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined “a Trump peace plan” in the Wall Street Journal that seemed at odds with the Republican candidate’s actual position.

Commenting on both matters, Peskov complimented Trump for “knowing history in such depth” as few other Americans seemed to, but maintained that he was still “a representative of the US political elite that is now definitely suffering from total Russophobia.”

“Of course, we saw this article and various other statements. We have never worn rose-colored glasses,” Peskov told reporters.

The Kremlin press secretary reminded reporters that the US introduced “a huge number of sanctions” against Russia during Trump’s presidency, so “there isn’t much of a difference” between him and other American politicians, from Moscow’s standpoint.

“He shows a little more wisdom in terms of maintaining channels of dialogue, but this does not have much of an influence on anything,” Peskov concluded.

Of course, if they give it a week or two, Trump may start hawking gaudy (rose)gold-plated Trump glasses. That would make a huge difference, one assumes. And if not, then Moscow should continue to regard the entire GAE establishment, the fake elected officials and the true powers behind them, as dangerous maniacs desperate to cause a little more damage as their empire fades away. I’d say ‘Muricans might want to think about it that way too, but they’re not into the thinking business.