Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, has declared that Russia and the US will remain bitter enemies for generations, despite Donald Trump's push for a peace deal over Ukraine. In a VK post, the former Russian president and premier mocked the American leader and warned that relations between the nuclear superpowers had been poisoned for decades by new US sanctions legislation.
Medvedev's Attack on Trump
Medvedev said of Trump: “Let’s be frank - he’s not much of a strategist. But he has a good nose for business.” He implied Trump's wooing of Russia, at the expense of Ukraine, was linked to the US president wanting to enrich himself.
“Both the diesel deal with Russia and a number of other moves could bring him quite substantial dividends,” said Medvedev.
Sanctions Compared to Genocide
Medvedev warned that relations between Russia and the US had been damaged for decades to come by the new US sanctions legislation, which he said “could even be classified as an act of genocide”. He added: “We were, are, and will remain systemic adversaries.”
His outburst came despite Trump holding back “hellish” sanctions against Moscow, passed by Congress, to avoid jeopardising negotiations to end Putin's invasion. The Graham Act, named after the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, is designed to punish Russia over its war in Ukraine with sweeping sanctions, including up to 500% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, gas and uranium.
Long-Term Impact Predicted
The laws, suspended but not repealed by Trump, were “designed to last for decades”, propped by “European degenerates”, Medvedev said. “It is quite likely that our grandchildren will live under its provisions.”
Medvedev, 61, compared the sanctions to the Cold War-era Jackson–Vanik restrictions, which remained in force against Russia for almost four decades. He said the laws “will turn into a series of attempts, prolonged over decades, to blackmail and pressure Russia on various issues. Along the lines of: ‘Be good, and you’ll get a break’…..”
He concluded: “What conclusions can we draw from this? Very simple ones. We must acknowledge that relations between Russia and the US have once again been damaged for decades to come. We were, are, and will remain systemic adversaries. And secondly: to hell with this law and the Americans’ leniency. As for the sanctions… As old Nietzsche used to say, ‘Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker’ [What does not kill me makes me stronger].”
Medvedev's blast comes as Trump is sending peace negotiators Steve Witcoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow later this week after meeting Ukrainian and European representatives in Norway.
