Trump warns Medvedev to ‘watch his words,’ calls him ‘failed former President of Russia’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump issued a warning to former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev asking him to “watch his words,” after the latter criticized Trump’s foreign policy, The Hill reported.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.”

“Likewise, 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!” the president added.

Since returning to office in January, Trump and his administration have pushed for an end to the more than three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, without much success. At times, the president has aired frustration with both sides over lack of progress on a ceasefire agreement, despite several rounds of peace talks.

Earlier this month, he gave the two nations a 50-day deadline to reach a deal, threatening Russia and its allies, including India, with increased sanctions.

Re-upping the pressure on Wednesday, Trump said he would impose a 25 percent tariff on India as a penalty for purchasing Russian military equipment and gas. He also signaled he could shorten the timeline — which now falls in early September — for the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal and end its onslaught on Ukraine, which has largely been on board with ceasefire proposals, The Hill reported.

The president also said Monday, during a sit-down conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, that he could start imposing sanctions on Russia in “about 10 or 12 days,” according to The Hill.

Medvedev, in response, knocked Trump for “playing the ultimatum game.”

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on the social platform X. “Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”

“Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!” he added, using Trump’s nickname for former President Biden. (ANI)