Rubio mocks Medvedev's 'nuclear' threats: 'They would struggle'
Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
Threats of nuclear war voiced by former president and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, are worthless. In the event of a real war, Russia wouldn't be able to stand up not only to the US, but even to European countries, states US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Fox News.
Rubio openly mocked Medvedev’s threats, noting that a nuclear war between the US and Russia is not even "a fathomable thing." According to him, it’s definitely not something the world will ever witness.
And when it comes to non-nuclear capabilities, Russia is unable to stand up to anyone, especially not the United States. In 2022, the Russians failed to handle Ukraine, which at the time didn’t even have the largest army in Europe.
"I don’t think there’s any doubt that from a conventional military capability, the Russians could not take on the United States or, frankly, many of the countries in Europe, for that matter. I think they would struggle," Rubio said.
The Secretary of State added that the US is not concerned about a full-scale war with Russia. What’s more worrisome are skirmishes or potential miscalculations that could theoretically escalate into nuclear war. However, he emphasized there’s no real need to worry, as the Russians would never dare take such a step.
"Since the Russians are not very good at conventional weaponry, they would almost invariably have to rely on some other means, like a tactical nuclear weapon on the battlefield, to sort of escalate in an effort to de-escalate a fight. So you would worry about that, but we shouldn’t even think about it, because that’s not something that is plausible or frankly feasible for either side," he concluded.
Medvedev tried to threaten Trump — and nearly crossed a line
On July 28, US President Donald Trump announced that he had decided to revise the terms of his ultimatum on secondary tariffs for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He gave him 10 days — the deadline expires on August 8.
Russia wasn’t pleased with this approach, and Medvedev was rolled out to respond. The former Russian president dared to issue threats in his usual style, calling the new ultimatum "a step toward war" between the US and Russia.
"Trump is playing ultimatums with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember two things: 1. Russia is not Israel or even Iran. 2. Every new ultimatum is a threat and a step toward war. Not with Ukraine — with his own country," Medvedev wrote.
Trump swiftly issued a harsh response to Medvedev’s war threats. The US leader warned him that such remarks were dangerous.
"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 American leader wrote.
