Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Ukraine's Orthodox Church: Russian Orthodox Church Extension of Kremlin, It's 'Holy War' Against the West
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
17 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Russia warns against threats after Trump repositions nuclear submarines
Peskov's remarks, the first official statement from the Kremlin about Trump's move, seemed to distance Russian President Vladimir Putin from Medvedev, a longtime prime minister under Putin who now serves as deputy chairman of the country's Security Council. Advertisement 'On the whole, certainly, we absolutely wouldn't like to engage in such polemics, nor would we like to comment on that in any way,' Peskov said, responding to a question about Trump's announcement of nuclear submarine movements. 'There can be no winner in a nuclear war,' Peskov added. 'This is probably the key premise we rely on. We do not think there is talk of any escalation.' Since ordering the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has often intimated that Moscow could deploy nuclear weapons, while other officials, including Medvedev, and commentators close to the Kremlin have issued hyperbolic threats referencing Russia's nuclear arsenal, which is the world's largest. Peskov's effort to play down the confrontation comes ahead of a likely visit to Russia this week by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who has met Putin four times in a so-far-unsuccessful bid to halt Russia's war. Advertisement Trump told reporters Sunday that the submarines are 'in the region.' Last week, responding to Medvedev on social media, Trump denounced the Russian's 'highly provocative statements,' which he said led him to dispatch the submarines 'just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.' 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences,' Trump continued, capping an intensifying exchange. 'I hope this will not be one of those instances.' Medvedev, whose relevance in Russia has waned since he left the prime minister's office in 2020, now often plays the role of social media provocateur. Russia's nuclear arsenal is central to Putin's effort to posture the country as a global power and to reinforce his conviction, shared by many Russian citizens, that Russia can never be defeated in war. On Sunday, Trump said he may send Witkoff to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday at Moscow's request, before imposing new sanctions. Trump has cautioned that the new sanctions would probably not deter Russia's war effort. After Trump last week shortened the deadline for agreement on a cease-fire in Ukraine to Aug. 8, Medvedev warned on social media that every Trump ultimatum was a step closer to war between the United States and Russia. Trump admonished Medvedev to 'watch his words'; then Medvedev responded on Thursday with an emoji of laughter through tears and the nuclear threat, warning Trump of the dangers of the 'Dead Hand.' On Friday afternoon, Trump said he would reposition two nuclear submarines. 'A threat was made … so we just have to be very careful,' he said, referring to Medvedev, adding: 'We're going to protect our people.' Advertisement Peskov distanced himself Monday from Medvedev's rhetoric, saying people should look to Putin instead. 'In our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state, President Putin,' Peskov said. He declined to comment on whether the Kremlin would tell Medvedev to tone down his rhetoric. Russia has sharpened its tone toward Trump in recent weeks after US officials indicated he is running out of patience with Putin's reluctance to compromise on his maximalist conditions to end the war, despite key concessions suggested by the United States, including keeping Ukraine out of NATO and allowing Moscow to keep the territory it has annexed illegally in Ukraine. In his meetings with Putin and other Russians, Witkoff has at times appeared to misread the Kremlin's demands, commenting that he saw Russia's retention of the territories it occupies as key to the war's resolution. Putin, however, consistently insists on a broader subjugation of Ukraine, including slashing the size of its military, effectively undercutting Ukrainian sovereignty. On Friday, Putin said in a comment that appeared directed at Trump that Russia's conditions to end the war had not changed and declared that any disappointment about the peace process was due to 'excessive expectations.' Putin said Russia's massive losses in Ukraine — likely this summer to reach 1 million soldiers killed or wounded, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — were not in vain. 'We do not have a single loss in vain,' he told journalists on Valaam Island in northwestern Russia after visiting a monastery. Since the 2022 invasion, Moscow has calibrated its nuclear threat to deter Western support for Ukraine, in particular deliveries of Western missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory. Denied those, Ukraine has used drone strikes on distant targets. Advertisement These threats have at times been delivered directly by Putin, but also at other times by senior Russian officials who offer a level of deniability, including Medvedev. Pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov on Sunday wrote that Witkoff's likely visit was the 'last chance' to reach an agreement between Moscow and Washington before Trump's deadline on a cease-fire expires Aug. 8. He wrote on Telegram that Putin may offer a partial cease-fire, ending missile and drone attacks.
Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Gov. Abbott Orders Arrest of Democrats Who Fled Texas; Trump Sets Friday Deadline for Russia Peace Deal
Texas House Democrats successfully blocked Republicans from redrawing Texas's congressional map by leaving the state. Joining us to discuss are Ashwani Jain, Democratic strategist and author of 'Project 2027,' and former congresswoman Nan Hayworth. President Donald Trump ramps up the pressure, warning India over Russian oil and...
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump escalates nuclear tensions as Russia deadline nears
President Trump is rattling the U.S.'s formidable nuclear saber amid his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to halt the war in Ukraine, just days ahead of Trump's deadline for a ceasefire. Trump last week said he was moving two 'nuclear' submarines closer to Russia in response to threatening rhetoric from a top Kremlin official. On Sunday, he confirmed the vessels were now 'in the region.' It's not clear if Trump is referring to nuclear-armed submarines or nuclear-powered attack submarines, but the confusion adds to the threat, which coincides with the president's Friday deadline for Russia to end the war or face further economic isolation. Experts say it's a risky tactic unlikely to sway Putin, who has stood in the way of the president's campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House. 'I don't see a lot of the benefits or the advantages, given that the Russians know very well that we have, for decades, had nuclear-armed submarines that could target what matters to them,' said Erin Dumbacher, the Stanton Nuclear Security Senior Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. 'I see more risk than reward to using statements like this.' While experts don't see an imminent threat, they warn against careless and bombastic statements that could lead to risky miscalculation and confrontation. 'Does this mean that all of a sudden we should all be going to the cellar and locking ourselves in? No,' said former Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), who is the executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, in a call with The Hill. 'Of major concern is nuclear rhetoric that could all too easily lead to mistake or miscalculation resulting in catastrophe. Trump's verbal engagement with an essentially powerless Russian politician is inappropriate and unhelpful,' he said in an earlier statement. 'What is needed is a steady hand, not someone who allows his anger at a personal insult to risk escalating to a dangerous situation.' Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for peace missions, is expected in Moscow later this week to push Putin to agree to a ceasefire. If that fails, Ukraine's supporters are hoping Trump will pull the trigger on 'secondary tariffs' on countries that import oil from Russia, in a bid to choke off the Kremlin's ability to finance its war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday downplayed the movement of the U.S. submarines to its nearby waters, saying it does not want to be dragged into a tit-for-tat escalation. 'In general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way,' Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. 'Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric.' Peskov added that Russia does not currently see the movement as an escalation. 'It is clear that very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, are perceived very emotionally by many people,' he added. Trump announced the move after what he called 'highly provocative statements' from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chair of the country's security council. Medvedev had criticized Trump's foreign policy and threat of sanctions. Earlier this week, Trump reduced a 50-day timeline for Russia to reach a ceasefire, after repeatedly lashing out at Putin for continued attacks on Ukraine. Medvedev, a frequent anti-Western critic seen as having little decision-making power in the Russian government, said Trump is 'playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10,' and he warned about the risk of war between 'nuclear-armed adversaries.' He also referenced Russia's 'dead hand' capabilities — a Cold War relic that describes Moscow's ability to launch a nuclear strike even if the Russian leadership is taken out. 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences,' Trump responded in a Truth Social post. 'I hope this will not be one of those instances.' Trump has wielded America's nuclear arsenal in the past, particularly during his attempts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions during his first term. Trump often raised the prospect of nuclear war with Pyongyang, boasting he would unleash 'fire and fury' on the country, and that he had a 'much bigger' and 'more powerful' nuclear arsenal. Trump's latest move to send two U.S. nuclear submarines to circle near Russia is unlikely to cause major concern for Moscow, given that such vessels patrol oceans across the globe daily, experts said. But the heightened rhetoric and concerns for miscalculation are underscoring key gaps in nuclear arms control and nonproliferation efforts. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday said it was not bound by a moratorium on short- and intermediate-range missiles, in what Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said was a response to U.S. discussions to deploy long-range conventional missiles to Europe. The missiles were banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which Trump pulled out of in his first term in response to Russian violations of the treaty. And the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia is set to expire in February. The treaty put restrictions on America and Russia's nuclear arsenals and allowed reciprocal inspection and verification. Russia suspended its participation in the treaty in 2023, and the U.S. took countermeasures that effectively suspended American participation, raising concerns among nuclear arms control experts about the next steps. 'I'm not seeing a lot of conversation about what would happen after that, in an effort to restrict or limit or even maintain the current levels,' said Dumbacher, who most recently was a CFR international affairs fellow with the Pentagon. In that role she helped craft language signed on by the U.S. and China that humans, and not artificial intelligence, should control nuclear weapons. Dumbacher pointed out Russia is not a party to that agreement, which speaks to Medvedev's threats of Russia's 'dead hand' capabilities. 'I think every nuclear weapons country should sign on to some sort of confidence building measure like that, where we say we're never going to hand this decision over to a machine,' she said. Even as Trump heightens his rhetoric against Russia, the president has highlighted nuclear arms control as a priority. In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he said he wanted nuclear arms reduction talks with both Russia and China. And Trump boasts of halting fighting between Pakistan and India as averting a nuclear war. Rose Gottemoeller, who served as deputy secretary-general of NATO from 2016-19, noted Trump's success in getting Putin in 2019 to a freeze on all nuclear warheads, as well as his signal more recently that he is not interested in the U.S. building more warheads. 'Today's U.S. political reality mandates that the next arms control treaty has to be wholly owned by President Donald Trump if it is to be successful,' Gottemoeller wrote in an article for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists late last month, pointing out that any new arms control treaty will need the ratification of Congress. 'With the willingness that President Trump has already shown to take on the issue of constraining warheads, the current U.S. administration has the opportunity to forge into new territory on nuclear arms control.'
