Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev raised the specter of the Second World War on Tuesday, while the rhetoric between the White House and the Kremlin accelerate on the War in Ukraine.
Medvedev, now a senior security official, replied to President Donald Trump Post on social truth reprimand his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin While Moscow continued to shots on his neighbor.
“What Vladimir Putin does not realize is that if it was not for me, many very bad things would have ever happened to Russia, and I mean really badly”, Trump, patience During the absence of a cease-fire contract, wrote, adding: “He plays with fire!”
About three hours later, Medvedev went to X, writing: “I only knew one bad thing – the Second World War. I hope Trump understands it! “
This in turn attracted an almost immediate reprimand of Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg Which called the remarks of Medvedev “reckless” In a post on X. Presenting that Russia stifled the fears of another world war, Kellogg wrote that it was “worried about a world power”.
Trump, he added, worked on the negotiation of a truce in the war which entered its fourth year in February and won tens of thousands of lives on both sides.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov He seemed to play the tension during a press briefing on Wednesday, where he thanked Trump “personally” for his efforts. But he said: “At the same time, there are many shades based on national interests, which cannot be sacrificed and that the team will sacrifice itself.”
While Putin has never raised the spectrum of World War, he addressed the use of nuclear weapons several times since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a speech on the Red Square of Moscow Last last May, the Russian chief promised to stand firm against the attempts of the Western allies of Ukraine to contain Russia. “We won’t let anyone threaten,” he said. “Our strategic forces are still in combat preparation,” he added, referring to the arsenal of nuclear weapons in Russia, the largest in the world.
Trump, who has repeatedly promised to end the war within 24 hours of his entry into office, found the reality very different since the start of his second term, while offering mixed messages on Putin.
Trump congratulated Putin as a strong leader with whom he can do business and the pair has exchanged A nice, although unsuccessful phone call Last week. Shortly after, he announcement That Russia and Ukraine “would immediately begin negotiations to a ceasefire”.
But while Putin blocked in peace talks, Trump’s frustration seems to have grown with the Russian leader, whom he called “crazy” in an article on Truth Social Sunday after Moscow launched generalized strikes on Ukraine. The Kremlin rejected its comments as an “emotional overload”.
Russia previously declared that it was working on a memorandum of understanding to describe Moscow requests in the context of negotiations with kyiv. But on Tuesday, Kellogg said that the United States was still waiting for “the reception of the RU memorandum (mandate sheet) that you promised a week ago.”
Earlier, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said in a statement that the Kremlin continued to write this memorandum and that he would understand a calendar for a peace agreement and potential cease-fire scenarios.
She added that it would be sent to Ukraine, which previously rejected Russian requests to never join NATO, accept permanent “neutrality” between Moscow and the West and cede its request for four territories to the east of the country that Russia illegally annexed months after the start of the war.
Inside Ukraine, Russian forces continue to grind slowly on the battlefield. Ukrainian officials said that a person had been killed and more than two dozen injuries by ballistic missiles across the country during the night.
Elsewhere, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy The German Chancellor will meet new Friedrich Merz on Wednesday, said his office in a statement.
The two leaders should discuss kyiv’s desire to respond to Russian strikes and threats, including increasing drone and missile production, Zelenskyy said in his night speech on Wednesday.
It comes after Merz said on Tuesday that His government would raise all the restrictions of reach Weapons he sends to Ukraineallowing Kyiv to defend themselves by attacking military positions deeply in Russia.
Peskov called Merz’s decision “extremely dangerous”, adding: “All this largely goes against peace efforts, against the peace process that begins and is still in a very fragile state.”
