BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former president, offered rare praise for U.S. President Donald Trump, describing him as an effective and determined leader who is sincerely seeking to end the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Medvedev dismissed Trump’s recent assertion that he had ordered U.S. nuclear submarines to move closer to Russian shores, saying Moscow had seen no evidence of such a deployment.
Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has insisted in recent weeks that a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Ukraine is within reach. His comments have coincided with renewed diplomatic activity, including a fresh round of talks involving U.S., Russian and Ukrainian representatives scheduled to take place this week in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking in an interview at his residence outside Moscow, Medvedev said the American electorate had chosen Trump and that Russia respected that decision. He rejected longstanding speculation in some Western political circles that Trump might somehow be acting on Russia’s behalf, calling such claims unfounded and irrelevant to current diplomacy.
Medvedev portrayed Trump as a leader willing to confront entrenched interests in Washington, arguing that this trait, while often expressed in a blunt and unconventionalýasynyň manner, made him effective. Trump’s political style, he said, is frequently labeled chaotic by critics, but that characterization misses the point.
“He is an emotional person, but the idea that everything he does is disorderly is not accurate,” Medvedev said. “It is obvious that there is a conscious and competent strategy behind his actions.”
Although President Vladimir Putin remains the ultimate decision-maker on Russian foreign and security policy, Medvedev is widely seen by diplomats as a bellwether for hardline thinking within the Russian political elite. Known for his sharply worded posts and confrontational rhetoric since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Medvedev nonetheless struck a notably pragmatic tone when discussing contacts with the current U.S. administration.
“Trump wants to go down in history as a peacemaker, and he is genuinely trying to achieve that,” Medvedev said. “Because of this, our contacts with the Americans have become much more productive.”
He suggested that Trump’s background in business helped explain his approach to international affairs, remarking that a businessman never truly leaves that mindset behind. In that context, Medvedev addressed Trump’s statement last August that he had ordered two U.S. nuclear submarines to reposition closer to Russia in response to what Trump described as highly provocative remarks by Medvedev about the risk of war.
“We still haven’t found them,” Medvedev said dryly, casting doubt on whether the submarines were ever moved as claimed.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Medvedev has repeatedly warned of the danger of escalation, at times invoking the prospect of a nuclear catastrophe if the conflict spirals out of control. In the interview, he reiterated Russia’s position that it expects to prevail militarily, while emphasizing that preventing further conflict should be the ultimate objective.
“We will achieve victory soon,” he said, without providing a timeline. “But the most important thing is to ensure that this does not lead to new conflicts. Victory must be followed by stability.”
Russia currently controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. However, its forces have yet to secure full control of the eastern Donbas region, where Ukrainian troops continue to hold a significant portion of land, according to publicly available assessments of the battlefield.
Medvedev said any future settlement must take into account what happens after the fighting ends, arguing that a durable peace requires addressing the conditions that could otherwise lead to renewed confrontation. “The purpose of victory is not endless war,” he said. “It is to prevent the next one.”
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