Could this be the first time in history, a social media splash causes nuclear escalation?
President Donald Trump, insulted by posts of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, says he ordered two nuclear submarines to get closer to Russia.
So how will Moscow react? Are we on our way to a nuclear impasse between America and Russia? An internet-age version of the Cuban rocket crisis of 1962?
I doubt it, based on the first reaction in Russia.
Russian news stores are rather negative for the announcement of Trump.
In conversation with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, a military commentator concluded that Trump “threw a tantrum”.
A retired lieutenant general told Kommersant that the US President’s conversation about submarines was “pointless blather. That’s how he gets his stairs”.
“I’m sure Trump did not really give orders [about submarines]”A Russian security expert suggested the same article.
Kommersant also mentions that Trump said in 2017 that he had sent two nuclear submarines to the Korean peninsula as a warning for North Korea.
But not long afterwards, Trump held a meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
So, bizarre, could Donald Trump’s newest submarine implementation be a precursor for a US-Russia summit?
I wouldn’t go that far.
But the reaction of the Russian authorities has been interesting.
There has been none at the time of writing.
Not from the Kremlin. Not from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Neither the Ministry of Defense.
And I have not seen an announcement about Russian nuclear submarines that are placed closer to America.
That suggests that either Moscow still studies the situation and works out what to do, or that Moscow does not feel the need to respond.
The Russian press reaction that I mentioned earlier suggests that it is the last.
Trump had been sparkling with Medvedev on social media for a few days.
After the US president had reduced his 50-day deadline for Russia to end his war in Ukraine to less than two weeks, Medvedev placed that Trump “played the ultimatum game with Russia … Every new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war”.
Trump replied: “Tell Medvedev, the failed former Russian president who thinks he is still in power, to be careful with what he says. He enters very dangerous territory.”
The following post from Medvedev contained a reference to “Dead Hand”, the automatic nuclear retaliation system developed in the Soviet Union.
It is clear that the Chef of the White House did not go well.
When he was the Russian president, between 2008 and 2012, Medvedev was seen as a relatively liberal figure.
“Freedom is better than no freedom,” he was quoted famous.
But he has become Haveler. Since the full invasion of Russia in Ukraine, he has gained a reputation for bombastic, anti-Western social media messages. Most of them have passed unnoticed because he is not seen as the voice of the Kremlin.
He is suddenly noted: by the president of the United States.
And not just noticed. He has exactly under the skin of Trump.
It is one thing not to like a social media post. We have all been there.
But to love it so much, you feel that you implement nuclear submarines as an exaggeration.
So why did Trump do it?
Here is Trump’s own explanation from his interview with Newsmax: “Medvedev said some things that are very bad, talk about nuclear. If you mention the word nuclear, my eyes light up and I say that it is better because it is the ultimate threat.”
But Medvedev has long been accused of nuclear Sabre-Rammelen via social media. It’s nothing new.
What is clear is that Trump has recorded the recent Medvedev posts very personally and responded accordingly.
Would a strategy also play? Unpredictability feels like a large part of Trump’s way of doing things, in business and in politics; Making unexpected decisions that can bring rivals and opponents out of balance before they become conversations or during a negotiation.
For example, when ending the war in Ukraine.
Surprise Submarine implementations can very well fall into that category.
#Steve #Rosenberg #Russia #remains #silent #nuclear #move #Trump