Solid showdown in Moscow! Vladimir Putin's military hawks are outraged by the dirty little deal with Donald Trump

Some of the military bloggers in Moscow criticized the "dirty little deal" Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump on Ukraine, amid reports that the Kremlin has instructed state-controlled media outlets to present a positive image of the US president, according to various sources, the US publication Newsweek reports.

As Moscow continues its bilateral talks with Washington to end the three-year war in Ukraine, Putin warned of “forces“ trying to undermine the talks.

After three years of bellicose state incitement and anti-Ukrainian propaganda, Russians are suddenly faced with a sharply different rhetoric as Moscow adopts a more conciliatory tone towards both Ukraine and the West.

The failure to “sell” A possible peace deal with Ukraine and the US could turn against the Kremlin in the Russian public, inflaming both the general public and the increasingly powerful and hawkish contingent of ex-soldiers, former Wagner mercenaries and war veterans who are already stoking dissent in the country.

Military bloggers in Moscow have criticized Putin's dealings with Trump regarding the peace talks, with many describing them as "dogovornyak" - a Russian term that roughly translates to "dirty deal", "backstage deal", according to Multitran.com.

Russian military blogger Vladimir Romanov, known as Romanov Light on Telegram, posted his thoughts on the future Putin-Trump deal on February 27, using a variation of the term "dogovornyachok". He wrote: “Regarding the “peacekeeping contingent“ that is to be deployed in Ukraine as a result of the deal. These are France and other NATO member states. Naturally, bases will be needed and created for their deployment. As a result of the deal - the agreed deployment of NATO bases in Ukraine. A great result.“

The Russian news agency “Agentstvo“ also wrote about some of the military bloggers who are eyeing the potential deal and described a propaganda video distributed on pro-war Telegram channels. The video mocks military bloggers, dubbed "armchair patriots", who are fiercely pro-war and unhappy with Russia's push to strike a deal with the United States.

The criticism from Russian military bloggers comes after officials from both sides met in Saudi Arabia last week to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Putin has also recently said he would allow Trump access to rare earth metals in regions annexed by Ukraine as part of a future deal and that he would be open to deploying European peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of a peace agreement.

In its assessment of Russia's offensive campaign, published on February 27, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that the Kremlin has been providing "guidance to Russian state media on coverage of recent U.S.-Russian meetings", which it said "show Russian President Vladimir Putin's determination to manipulate US President Donald Trump and divide the West".

The ISW statement was based on a report by the Russian media outlet "Verstka", which cited an unidentified source. The person, who "participates in regular Kremlin meetings with editors of key media outlets", claimed that the Russian government had told the media to emphasize that Moscow was negotiating "not with some abstract Americans, but with Trump's team" and to create the image of him as "A man who was oppressed in every way both at home and in Europe".

According to the source, the Kremlin has ordered the media to create an image of "a man who had the wisdom to respond to Russia's outstretched hand", rather than directly praising Trump. Kremlin-linked sources who spoke to the publication denied this and said that Russian propagandists had not received instructions on how to cover Russian-American relations.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Anton Gerashchenko, a former deputy interior minister of Ukraine, wrote: “Russian “Z-bloggers“ continue to resent the negotiations, calling them “a shameful deal“. However, Russian propagandists and “middle leadership“ have reportedly already received instructions to “convince the people that this is a victory“ and to “deal with dissenters“. With the Russian propaganda machine, people can be convinced of absolutely anything.“

Serhiy Sternenko, a Ukrainian activist, wrote in X: "Kremlin propagandist told President Trump to back down in response to deal proposal".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently said that a meeting between Putin and Trump is being prepared, with the exact date and location yet to be confirmed.