The former Russian president warned the US leader against issuing threats and ultimatums when dealing with Moscow
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. © Ilya Pitalev/RIA Novosti
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has told US President Donald Trump that Russia is neither Israel nor Iran, and that every one of his threats is another step towards a potential conflict.
The US president on Monday issued a more extreme ultimatum to Russia, demanding that Moscow reach a ceasefire with Kiev within “10 or 12 days.” Earlier this month, Trump threatened sweeping secondary sanctions against Russia’s trade partners unless a deal was reached by autumn.
Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that Trump was “playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10…”
In a post on X on Monday, he suggested Trump should remember two things: first, that “Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran,” and, second, that every new ultimatum constitutes a threat and a step toward hostilities between Russia and the US.
“Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe [Biden] road!” he wrote.
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. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don't go down the Sleepy Joe road!
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 28, 2025
During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly criticized his predecessor Joe Biden’s handling of the Ukraine conflict, warning that US policy under the former administration had brought the world to the brink of “World War III.”
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While Trump has re-engaged Russia diplomatically and pushed for Kiev to enter direct peace talks with Moscow, he has increasingly expressed impatience with the pace of negotiations. Earlier this month, after issuing his initial ultimatum, the president resumed US military aid to Ukraine through NATO.
Russia has long condemned the US-led military bloc’s arms supplies to Ukraine, arguing they make Kiev’s Western sponsors party to the conflict, which Moscow sees as a proxy war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that although Russia is essentially fighting a war against the entire West on its own, it will not back down from its key security demand in the conflict.
“No dragging Ukraine into NATO, no NATO expansion at all,” the top diplomat said on Monday. “It has already expanded right up to our borders.”