Weaponizing Disinformation: How Pro-Moscow Narratives Target EU Unity in the Wake of Trump's 'Peace' Overtures
A viral social media campaign glorifying Putin's support for Trump's Board of Peace has accumulated over 200,000 engagements, with posts framing the collaboration as a masterstroke designed to sideline Brussels. The EU responds with new counter-measures.
A coordinated social media campaign glorifying Vladimir Putin's support for Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" initiative has accumulated over 200,000 engagements in less than 24 hours, with posts framing Russia's involvement as a masterful geopolitical maneuver designed to sideline the European Union.
The viral posts, spread by accounts including @MAGAVoice, @BRICSinfo, and @mog_russEN, declare Putin "is ready to contribute $1 billion" to Trump's new international body while praising him for executing "5D Chess" on the Greenland question. The messaging follows a familiar pattern: elevate the Trump-Putin partnership while diminishing Brussels' role in global affairs.
According to EUvsDisinfo, the EU's dedicated monitoring service, Russian foreign information manipulation and interference operations have intensified sharply since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin's approach combines divisive interference aimed at fragmenting the European Union with increasingly provocative actions, including violations of European airspace.
The Anatomy of the Campaign
The information operation unfolds across multiple layers. At the first level, accounts with large followings, such as @BRICSinfo with 1.7 million followers and @MAGAVoice with 1.4 million, broadcast news of Putin's billion-dollar offer as a diplomatic breakthrough. The framing positions Trump as "the PEACE President of the world" while presenting Russia as a constructive partner.
At the second level, commentary amplifies the anti-EU message. @mog_russEN, an account styled as "RussiaNews" with nearly 300,000 followers, posted that Putin had executed a "masterstroke" that "dismantled the EU's grip on Greenland."
The replies reveal how the narrative penetrates: "This is the new NATO and the old one can just straight fukoff," wrote one user. Another declared, "Russians were always the good guys it seems." A third suggested, "Behind the scenes I think Trump and Putin are on the same page and see the EU as the evil monster on the global stage."
According to NBC News, key US allies in Europe have already expressed reservations that Trump's Board of Peace could undermine the UN's primacy in conflict resolution. The EU was not among the early invitees, an omission that Russian-aligned accounts have highlighted with satisfaction.
Divide and Bypass
The disinformation serves a strategic purpose: to drive a wedge between the United States and its traditional European allies while portraying bilateral deals between Washington and Moscow as the new model for global governance.
A former British diplomat told EA WorldView that Trump's actions represent "a wider campaign to undermine the European Union and individual European countries, damaging NATO." The propaganda, he said, pursues "the wider strategy, promoted by Vice President J.D. Vance and others in the Administration, of undermining Europe and putting hard-right governments in power."
The Greenland component is illustrative. When Putin declared Russia "won't interfere" with US ambitions in the Arctic, pro-Kremlin accounts framed this as clever diplomacy that outmaneuvered Brussels. The reality, according to analysts, is simpler: Moscow benefits from transatlantic discord regardless of which side prevails.
As Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has noted, Europe faces an expanding information battlefront. Sikorski recently rebuked Tucker Carlson for spreading historical falsehoods about World War II, demonstrating how disinformation campaigns target audiences through multiple vectors, from social media to mainstream media figures.
The EU's Counter-Response
The European Union has responded to the threat with new mechanisms. According to the European External Action Service, the bloc has presented the Democracy Shield, an instrument designed to counter foreign information manipulation, with expectations of further reinforcement through 2026.
New sanctions have targeted Russian hybrid operations, including coordinated disinformation and cyber activity. The EU also sanctioned Diana Panchenko, a Ukrainian-born media figure identified as a pro-Kremlin propagandist who disguises political influence operations as independent journalism.
Research from EU DisinfoLab proposes standardised terminology and new models for defining, detecting, describing, and disrupting foreign information manipulation. The report acknowledges that despite years of monitoring, responses remain fragmented.
Meanwhile, the EU has taken action to back Ukraine with its largest coordinated aid package in history, responding to Russian aggression with concrete support rather than rhetorical gestures.
Why It Matters
The current campaign matters because it tests whether democratic societies can maintain coherent foreign policies when adversaries exploit information ecosystems at scale. The 200,000-plus engagements represent not merely clicks but vectors of influence, each one potentially shaping how a citizen understands the relationship between Europe, America, and Russia.
The goal is not necessarily to convince everyone that Putin is a peace-seeking statesman. It is enough to muddy the waters, to create doubt about European institutions, and to normalise the idea that the transatlantic alliance is obsolete.
As Finland's President Alexander Stubb observed, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has achieved the opposite of its stated goals: decreased Russia's sphere of influence, caused catastrophic military losses, and devastated its economy. Yet the information war continues because it costs far less than tanks and missiles, and its effects are harder to measure and counter.
For Europe, the challenge is not merely to debunk false claims but to build resilience in public discourse. Citizens who understand how information operations work are less susceptible to manipulation. The EU's Democracy Shield and similar initiatives represent a start, but they require sustained commitment and cooperation across member states.
The viral campaign celebrating Putin's "Board of Peace" contribution will fade from trending topics within days. The strategy it represents will not.
January 22, 2026