Russian State TV Shows Map Dividing U.S. Up Among Other Countries

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov launched an attack on the United States on state television, sharing an image of a map that divides up the U.S., seemingly contesting the legitimacy of its territorial gains throughout history.

A clip of Solovyov, a prominent state television host, was shared on Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, on Thursday. "Russian propagandist Solovyev drags his idea of dividing the United States between different countries from show to show," he tweeted.

The map is divided up into sections which read: Oregon, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas. The right portion of the map, colored dark blue, says "territory in 1783."

Solovyov regularly lashes out at the West's support of Ukraine in the ongoing war against Russia. In the clip, he seems to contest U.S. support for Ukraine's goal of securing its 1991 borders. He does this by pointing out on a map some of the territorial gains the United States made in the 1800s, seemingly drawing a parallel to Russian ambitions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has, in various declarations, denied Ukraine's national identity as well as its legitimacy as a sovereign nation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine's borders must be recognized as the frontiers it had at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which Putin proclaimed to have annexed in September 2022, and Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, were part of Ukraine after the Soviet Union's collapse, and are still recognized by the international community as part of the country.

Kyiv has been adamant that it would only consider peace talks once Russian troops have vacated the entirety of Ukrainian territory.

During a broadcast on Russia-1, Solovyov argued that the "main goal" of the U.S. is "not just to make Ukraine win, but to make everything go back to the borders of 1991."

"It seems to me that we must respond to this," Solovyov said. "And the answer is very simple, we must show a map of the United States of America."

The state TV host then broadcast a map captioned "How did the USA expand its territory?" on the screen.

"I believe that the State Duma should say that we recognize Mexico's territorial right to the territories which were taken away from it, as a result of the hostilities of 1748, because these matters have no statute of limitations. So of course the new Mexico should be returned by the USA to the Mexican Republic," said Solovyov.

That would "be fair," he said.

Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including present-day New Mexico, as part of a treaty signed on February 2, 1848, that ended the war between the United States and Mexico.

"Likewise, we must look carefully at the fate of the free state of Texas, because in 1745 it was invaded and that too is totally unacceptable."

The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845 by the U.S. and became the nation's 28th state.

While Solovyov gives the wrong dates, the map he shares shows the correct ones—1848 when Mexico ceded New Mexico and 1845 for the annexation of the Republic of Texas.

He doesn't mention Louisiana or Oregon, both shown on the map, in his remarks. Louisiana was acquired by the U.S. from the French First Republic in 1803, while the U.S. and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Oregon in 1846.

Solovyov added: "In any case, I think we should have the State Duma and the Federation Council to pass a law where we believe that the primary goal is liberation and that we recognize the right of Mexicans to demand the return of their lands."

Newsweek reached out to the State Department and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry by email.

Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after nearly seven decades under Moscow's control, after the majority of the population voted to break from the Soviet Union.

Update 04/28/23, 10:06 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

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