Dmitry Medvedev. Photo: SOPA Images, SOPA Images Limited / Alamy / Profimedia
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the current vice-chairman of Russia's Security Council, praised Donald Trump as an effective peace-seeking leader, but added that Mpscova still had not found the nuclear submarines that Trump said he had moved near Russian shores, reports Reuters.
Asked whether Trump's presidency was a positive or negative thing for Russia, Medvedev said the American people elected him, and Moscow respects that decision.
Medvedev praised Trump's courage against the American “establishment” and appreciated that the American president's “impetuous” style is “effective”.
“He is an emotional person, but on the other hand, the chaos that is being talked about and that he allegedly created, is not entirely true. It is obvious that, beyond that, he is a fully conscious and competent lineman,” Medvedev said in an interview with Reuters, TASS and Russian blogger WarGonzo.
“Trump wants to go down in history as a peacemaker and he is trying to do that. That's why contacts with the Americans have become much more productive,” added the former president of Russia from 2008-2012, perceived in the West as a follower of the hard line from Moscow, which did not hesitate to challenge Trump on several occasions through his posts on social media.
Medvedev believes that key to understanding Trump is his business background, joking that there is no such thing as a “former businessman”, a reference to a Russian joke that “there is no such thing as a former KGB agent”.
In August, Trump announced that he had ordered two of the US's nuclear submarines to approach Russia's coast in response to Medvedev's “very provocative” comments about the risk of war.
“We haven't found them yet,” Medvedev said of the US submarines.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Medvedev repeatedly lashed out at Kiev and Western powers, while warning of the risks of the war escalating into a nuclear apocalypse.
In the mentioned interview, Medvedev said that Russia will “soon” achieve military victory in Ukraine, but the essential thing is to prevent a new conflict. “It is equally important to think about what will happen next. After all, the purpose of victory is to prevent new conflicts,” Medvedev said.
