Spiegel magazine featured Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the cover of its December 12 issue.
The illustration shows Putin holding a knife over Europe while Trump stands next to the Russian president, his hands on his shoulders.
The same image illustrates the key article of the issue, titled “How Trump and Putin are attacking Europe. Two villains, one goal“. The introduction states that the US leader “despises the Old Continent“ while Europe “cannot develop a strategy against the alliance“ between the two presidents.
Spiegel has already dedicated covers to both Putin and Trump this year. For example, the July 18 issue featured an illustration of both presidents and the caption “His best enemy“. In September, the magazine published a cover with a portrait of Putin and images of drones.
In 2017, Spiegel put Trump with Putin's face on the cover of the magazine. The caption at the bottom of the image reads: “Two Rulers: How Much Putin Is in Trump?“
The article itself claims that Putin is taking advantage of the “transatlantic divide“ between the US and Europe: the Russian president is negotiating with Trump on equal terms, “without any intrusive European interference“, while the United States, in its new national security strategy, rejects NATO expansion and “largely adopts the Kremlin's worldview“.
The US White House published its updated national security strategy in early December. The 33-page document states that the US “is no longer the Atlas that holds up the world order“. Among the priorities of European policy is enabling Europe to "stand on its own two feet and act as a group of united sovereign states, including by assuming primary responsibility for its own defense, without the domination of any hostile power."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the US national strategy is terrifying from the point of view of Europe. And European Defense Commissioner Andrew Kubilius saw in the document an impetus for strengthening the independence of the European region. The Kremlin suggested that the document could be a guarantee for the "constructive" continuation of negotiations on a settlement with Ukraine.
Russian authorities said that after the outbreak of the war "the Europeans themselves began to distance themselves from us," but at the same time expressed confidence that relations with Europe would be restored in the future. Putin stressed that Russia does not intend to go to war with Europe, but if that happens, Moscow is ready “as soon as“. According to the president, Russia allows the European Union to return to negotiations on a settlement with Ukraine if European leaders begin to take into account the situation “which is developing on the ground“.