Russia is staying quiet on Trump’s nuclear transfer

[ad_1] Might this be the primary time in historical past a social media spat triggers nuclear escalation?

President Donald Trump, offended by posts by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, says he is ordered two nuclear submarines to maneuver nearer to Russia.

So, how will Moscow reply? Are we on a path to a nuclear standoff between America and Russia? An online-age model of the 1962 Cuban Missile Disaster?

I doubt it, judging by preliminary response in Russia.

Russian information shops have been reasonably dismissive of Trump's announcement.

Talking to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, a army commentator concluded that Trump was "throwing a mood tantrum".

A retired lieutenant-general instructed Kommersant that the US president's speak of submarines was "meaningless blather. It is how he will get his kicks".

"I am positive Trump did not actually give any orders [about submarines]," a Russian safety professional urged to the identical paper.

Kommersant additionally mentions that in 2017, Trump mentioned that he'd despatched two nuclear submarines to the Korean peninsula as a warning to North Korea.

But not lengthy after, Trump held a gathering with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.

So, bizarrely, would possibly Donald Trump's newest submarine deployment be a precursor to a US-Russia summit?

I would not go that far.

However the response from the Russian authorities has been attention-grabbing.

At time of writing, there hasn't been any.

Not from the Kremlin. Not from the Russian international ministry. Nor the defence ministry.

And I've seen no announcement about Russian nuclear submarines being positioned nearer to America.

Which means that both Moscow remains to be finding out the state of affairs and figuring out what to do, or that Moscow would not really feel the necessity to react.

The Russian press response I discussed earlier suggests it is the latter.

Trump had been sparring with Medvedev on social media for a number of days.

After the US president had decreased his 50-day deadline for Russia to finish its conflict in Ukraine to lower than two weeks, Medvedev posted that Trump was "enjoying the ultimatum sport with Russia…Every new ultimatum is a menace and a step in the direction of conflict".

Trump responded: "Inform Medvedev, the failed former Russian president who thinks he's nonetheless in energy, to watch out what he says. He's getting into very harmful territory."

Medvedev's subsequent publish contained a reference to "Lifeless Hand", the automated nuclear retaliation system developed within the Soviet Union.

Clearly, that didn't go down properly with the White Home chief.

When he was Russia's president, between 2008 and 2012, Medvedev was seen as a comparatively liberal determine.

"Freedom is healthier than no freedom" he was famously quoted as saying.

However he has grown more and more hawkish. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine he has gained a status for bombastic, anti-Western social media posts. Most of them have handed unnoticed, since he's not seen because the voice of the Kremlin.

Abruptly he has been observed: by the President of the US.

And never simply observed. He is acquired proper below Trump's pores and skin.

It is one factor to dislike a social media publish. We have all been there.

However to dislike it a lot you deploy nuclear submarines seems like overkill.

So why has Trump performed it?

This is Trump's personal clarification from his interview with Newsmax: "Medvedev mentioned some issues which can be very unhealthy, speaking about nuclear. If you point out the phrase nuclear my eyes gentle up and I say we higher watch out, as a result of it is the final word menace."

However Medvedev has lengthy been accused of nuclear sabre-rattling by way of social media. It is nothing new.

What is obvious is that Trump took the current Medvedev posts very personally, and reacted accordingly.

Would possibly there even be a technique at play? Unpredictability seems like a giant a part of Trump's means of doing issues, in enterprise and in politics; taking sudden choices that may put rivals and opponents off steadiness earlier than talks or throughout a negotiation.