Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused NATO of having an “anti-Russian policy” and warned Donald Trump to “expect further steps” as their war of words intensifies. An online spat between the ex-Russian leader and the US president led to Donald Trump redeploying two nuclear submarines to be positioned “in appropriate regions”.
Medvedev has now refocused his ire on NATO after the country’s Foreign Ministry said the country no longer regarded itself as bound by the moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range nuclear missiles. The ex-president to X and said: “The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policy. This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps.”
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed in 1987 by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.
During Trump’s first term, the United States withdrew from the treaty, claiming that Russia had broken the terms of the agreement.
Yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of U.S.-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared.”
The declaration by Russia represents a further decline in relations between Moscow and Washington which had briefly improved following Donald Trump’s inauguration.
But relations have soured in recent weeks, with the US administration growing increasingly frustrated at the Kremlin’s inability to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Trump has given Russia a deadline of August 8 to agree to a pause in fighting or face a 100% tariff on oil exports.
The ultimatum triggered a war of words between Trump and Medvedev which culminated in the decision to reposition the nuclear submarines.
John Foreman, a former UK Defence Attaché Moscow and Kyiv dismissed the weight of Medvedev’s words following the decision by the United States, claiming that the former leader has become irrelevant with Russian political circles.
He said: “I disregarded diminutive, drunken, desperate Dima years ago.
“He’s not in the inner circle, he doesn’t represent Putin’s views, the real power players despise him, and he has little or no influence.
“His pronouncements are an attempt to attract attention. Unfortunately westerners still think he matters.”