Russia has brutally mocked Donald Trump as Moscow’s media claims Iran has the US President “by the golf balls.”

Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor for BBC News, said: “Today one Russian newspaper doubts that the Trump administration is in a position now to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine: ‘The guarantors of any peace would be that part of the US political elite that is likely to lose power in the foreseeable future.'”

Rosenberg also noted how Russian papers said that “pushing back his [Trump’s] deadline on Iran is an out-and-out sign of weakness”. This, the BBC journalist added quoting the Russian press, “notes that Iran is controlling oil prices by controlling the Strait of Hormuz. There Tehran has got Trump by the golf balls”.

Other newspapers, Rosenberg noted, are questioning Mr Trump’s ability to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine. “People believe less and less what Trump says. The image of peacemaker is crumbling. The political prospects, not even of Trump himself, but of his associates and allies, appear vague,” a Russian newspaper reported.

The Russians, however, Rosenberg noted by analysing the Russian press, are “loving Trump’s disillusionment with NATO”. According to the press the alliance is “on the brink,” and believe the US could reduce “its level of participation in NATO,” something that would be “painful” for the Europeans, but “not fatal”.

An American disengagement, the papers also explained, could mean a replacement of US troops by European troops in what would be a “double-edged sword” for Russia. The elimination of NATO could be considered a positive outcome, but Russia would fear a European militarisation. In that case, “Russia will have to be prepared for a potential military conflict,” one of the newspapers said.

Putin’s propaganda mouthpieces even boastfully call themselves the “Nuclear Maniacs Club”. Kremlin TV war pundit Col. Mikhail Khodarenok admitted to millions of viewers that Putin’s strategy over four years of war is not bringing success.

He said: “The Ukrainian leadership will be faced with the question of whether the country will be left in complete ruins, or we move to some kind of peace agreement,” he said.

“The task isn’t solvable with conventional weapons, the ones we have, so perhaps we should switch to special [nuclear] weapons and end this conflict within ten days, by 1 May?”