In his book on the Russian Revolution of 1905, Leon Trotsky describes Durnovo's appointment by Witte to the post: "This most foul specimen of the Russian bureaucracy's foul mores, this thievish official whom even the unforgettable Alexander III himself was obliged to throw out with the energetic words: 'remove this swine,' this Durnovo was now brought out of the rubbish bin to provide a counterweight to the 'liberal' Prime Minister in the capacity of Minister of Home Affairs.

[4] Immediately after the end of the final session of the Second Peasants' Congress of 1905, held in Moscow from 6–12 November, Durnovo, intent on crushing the resistance of the peasantry, issued the following orders: "Rioters to be exterminated immediately by force of arms, their dwellings to be burned down in the event of resistance.

Durnovo was noted for his outspoken opposition to closer ties with the United Kingdom at the expense of relations with Germany which he expressed in his letter sent to Nicholas II in February 1914.

He believed that German and Russian interests were complementary while a war between the two empires could result only in the destruction of the existing political orders of both.

Durnovo foresaw an imminent war between Russia, France and Great Britain against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey; he even predicted that irredentism would make Italy stay neutral or join the Russo-Franco-British side despite its commitment to the other.