Russia won’t end the war in Ukraine until it defeats Europe, Vladimir Putin’s close ally said. Sergey Karaganov, one of Putin’s top political advisors, said on state-owned TV channel Russia-1 that “this war won’t end until we defeat Europe“. He is considered to be inside the inner circle of Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, holding an influential position in Russian politics.
“I’m not the president, so I can say plainly: this war will not end up until we defend Europe – morally and politically. As long as Europe’s deranged elites continue their latest mad dash toward a global war, I don’t think a truly stable peace will be achievable. “At best, the situation might be deeply stabilised for a time because Europe will start to fall apart and revert to what it has always been: a junkyard of nations fighting each other, exporting war, colonialism and racism.”
He continued: “Unfortunately, we are now dealing with an extraordinarily irresponsible, feral and degraded European leadership, paired with a population that has been mass-indoctrinated. Not all Europeans are deluded, of course, but the propaganda now flooding the average European is worse than what was observed in Europe and Germany on the eve of, and during the early stages of World War II.
“We hope they come to their senses before forcing us to commit the grave sin of resorting to weapons of mass retaliation.”
In his July 2025 Global Affairs political essay, Karaganov wrote that Russia‘s 300-year “European orientation” had ended and Russia must “return to itself”, turning eastward to Eurasia.
The hard-liners in Putin’s circle of ideologists do not shy away from bold statements against Europe. In the past, the prominent propagandist Vladimir Solovyov suggested “destroying” European countries, including the UK.
“We will destroy all of Ukraine,” Solovyov said to Russian media in August. “If Trump thinks he can dictate to Putin, he is mistaken”. He went on to say that Russia “can destroy all of them with nuclear weapons”, referring to the West.