Russian leader Medvedev reminds Trump about dangers of 'dead hand'
Moscow, Jul 31 (PTI): Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday warned US President Donald Trump not to ignore the peril posed by those he labels "dead", as the two leaders exchanged barbs on social media.
In a social media post on Thursday, Trump mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said the two countries can take their "dead economies down together".
Hitting out at Moscow, Trump added: “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. He’s entering very dangerous territory."
Hours later, Medvedev, who is the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, which is headed by President Vladimir Putin, mocked Trump's “dead economies” remark, saying he should remember that Russia possessed Soviet-era automatic nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.
"If some words from the former president of Russia cause such a nervous reaction from the supposedly mighty president of the US, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
Reacting to Trump's remarks about ‘dead economies’ of India and Russia and the warning about ‘entering dangerous territory’, Medvedev said the US president should "remember his favourite films about 'The Walking Dead' and think about how dangerous a ‘dead hand’ can be, even one that doesn't exist in nature.” He added a laughing emoji.
According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, the term "dead hand" harks back to Cold War-era nomenclature in the West, where it referred to the Soviet nuclear deterrent system known as Perimeter. This automatic system was reportedly designed to ensure a guaranteed retaliatory strike in the event of an attack on the USSR.
Recently, Trump said that the US will impose about 100 per cent import tariffs on Russia and its trade partners if Moscow and Washington do not reach an agreement on the Ukrainian settlement within 50 days. He later shortened the deadline to 10 days.
Medvedev responded, saying Russia isn't Israel or even Iran. "Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country."
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
