Russian State TV Host Compares US, UK to 'Utterly Useless Animal'

A prominent Kremlin propagandist has lashed out at the United States and the United Kingdom, comparing both countries to wasps—"an utterly useless animal"—during a heated segment on Russian state TV.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-controlled media organization RT, made the comment during a live broadcast on channel Russia-1, where she appeared alongside longtime Kremlin mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

Why It Matters

While it's not unusual for Russian state TV to lash out at the West over its support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, the latest broadcast was especially fiery, reflecting growing tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes to broker a peace deal.

What To Know

Julia Davis, founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog group, posted a segment from the Russia-1 channel online that shows Simonyan speaking alongside Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of the most prominent figures in state-backed media.

"Meanwhile in Russia: Vladimir Solovyov and head of RT Margarita Simonyan mocked and threatened the West. They compared Russia to Jesus and claimed that Britain is jealous of the Russian empire. Solovyov bragged that Piers Morgan wants to interview him," Davis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Simonyan suggested that Trump appears "tired" and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is becoming"increasingly uncooperative and erratic" in ongoing talks.

Trump's pledge to broker peace talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war has faced significant hurdles, with both Ukraine and Russia struggling to reach mutually acceptable terms.

She claimed that if Trump doesn't end the war within a year, "he will look foolish," referencing Trump's campaign pledge to resolve the war in a single day.

The RT head suggested that the West is "already backpedaling" on Ukraine's prospects of victory, compared to when Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"That's becoming more and more obvious. You can even see it in their own press," she said, before referencing an article in The Times this week, titled "The untold story of British military chiefs' crucial role in Ukraine" as supposed evidence of that shift.

She interpreted the piece—which includes concerns from John Foreman, former U.K. defense attaché to Moscow and Kyiv, about an open-ended military commitment—as a tacit admission that the West is losing its will to continue supporting Ukraine.

The article is "basically admitting they are backing down," Simonyan claimed.

"The article ends with something like, 'The [slur for Ukrainians] themselves are at fault.' Then they ask—'should we keep going?' Because if we go on, it means sending in our troops," said Simonyan.

"But is the British public ready for that?" she asked before threatening: "After all, their own people will die. It's not that they may perish; they will certainly perish. We will kill them all."

Simonyan then launched into a fiery tirade, comparing the West to a wasp.

"You see, that's Anglo-Saxon psychology. The term WASP—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant—refers to old aristocratic America. The America that emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon of British settlers. That's what they call them—WASPs. But 'wasp' in English also means the insect," she said.

"Unlike a bee, a wasp is an utterly useless animal," she continued. "It's a parasite to everything in the world. Its sting is painful, unpleasant, but only deadly to the very, very weak. So there's no need to fear them, or even pay them any attention."

She suggested that the West is coming to terms with its failure in Ukraine: "Especially now that they're starting to understand and prepare their public for the fact that nothing is going to work out for them."

What People Are Saying

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Monday: "This peace deal is about these so-called five territories. But there's so much more to it. I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very important for the world at large."

What Happens Next

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Sunday that a meeting between Putin and Trump is in the works as part of ongoing efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.