Top Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized in remarks on reporters on Monday that strongman Vladimir Putin fully controls the nation’s foreign policy, apparently dismissing Security Council official Dmitry Medvedev’s regular nuclear threats as irrelevant despite his high status in the Russian government.
Peskov’s remarks were the first official response from the Russian government after President Donald Trump condemned Medvedev on Thursday for repeatedly issuing nuclear threats against the United States and Europe. The next day, Trump announced that he had repositioned American nuclear submarines in “appropriate regions” to respond if the Russian government followed Medvedev’s urging to use its nuclear weapons.
The comments that apparently triggered Trump’s concern were published on the encrypted messaging app Telegram where Medvedev made reference to the “dead hand,” a Soviet nuclear control system.
Peskov appeared to encourage the White House to disregard anything coming out of Medvedev, however, branding him the voice of an extreme, but not dominant, contingent within Russian politics.
“In any country, members of its leadership have different working points of view on current events and have different attitudes,” Peskov told reporters during his briefing on Monday, according to the Russian news agency Tass. “There are people who are very, very harshly minded both in the United States of America and in European countries. This is always the case.”
“But the main thing, of course, is the position of President Putin,” the spokesman insisted. “In our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state: President Putin.”
Tass, which often serves as representative of the Russian government’s stances, described Medvedev’s typical commentary in its coverage of Peskov’s remarks as “sharp and harsh,” indicating that his opinions are an outlier in the Russian government. Tass also reported that, in addition to dismissing Medvedev, Peskov appeared to disregard the threat presented by President Trump moving nuclear submarines in response to Medvedev.
“In this case, it is obvious that U.S. submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process,” Peskov was quoted as saying.
The Moscow Times further quoted Peskov addressing concerns about Medvedev by stating that the Putin regime encouraged “great caution” regarding any discussion of “nuclear issues” and “all parties should exercise the utmost restraint” — presumably including Medvedev.
The Russian Security Council official, who served as a puppet president for Putin from 2008 to 2012, appeared to have infuriated the White House with comments on Thursday in which he suggested that Russia could launch nuclear weapons if it felt its leadership was threatened.
“If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path,” Medvedev wrote, adding that Trump should recall “how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be,” a Soviet-era nuclear control system.
Prior to those remarks, Medvedev commented on Twitter that Trump was “playing the ultimatum game with Russia” and could face direct war with Russia for doing so. The Russian official was referring to Trump stating in July that Russia had 50 days to make peace with Ukraine, which it first invaded in 2014, or it would face 100 percent tariffs directed at its top trade partners. As Russia and America have virtually no bilateral trade, the United States cannot meaningfully impose tariffs on Russian goods entering the country.
“Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran,” Medvedev wrote in his social media message. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.”
Trump published a response on his website, Truth Social, on Thursday, as part of a larger statement referring to India’s longstanding purchases of Russian oil.
“Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words,” Trump wrote. “He’s entering very dangerous territory!”
On Friday, Trump announced the deployment of nuclear submarines.
“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation,” Trump explained, “I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,” he concluded.
Speaking to reporters later, Trump stated that Medvedev had issued an inappropriate “threat” necessitating a response.
“I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia. And we’re going to protect our people,” he emphasized.
Following the end of his puppet presidency, Medvedev has distinguished himself in the Putin regime by regularly threatening nuclear annihilation against anyone perceived to be an enemy of the region. Most recently, in February 2024, Medvedev suggested that any victory for Ukraine in the ongoing Russian invasion of that country would culminate in nuclear strikes on “Kiev [sic], Berlin, London, Washington.”
“Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing. To a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state,” he declared at the time.
Similarly, Medvedev suggested prior to that outburst that any country attempting to enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Putin would face potential nuclear strikes.
“Let’s imagine that it has happened. The incumbent head of a nuclear country arrives in, say, Germany and is arrested,” Medvedev fantasized in public statements. “What does it mean? A declaration of war against Russia. In such a case, all our weapons will target the Bundestag, the [German] Chancellor’s office and so on.”
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