Rolf Mützenich, former leader of the SPD parliamentary group in Germany’s Bundestag, has criticised mutual nuclear threats made by the United States and Russia, calling them irresponsible.

Rolf Mützenich, former leader of the SPD parliamentary group in Germany’s Bundestag, has criticised mutual nuclear threats made by the United States and Russia, calling them irresponsible.

Source: German newspaper Der Spiegel, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Mützenich was commenting on a recent verbal exchange between US President Donald Trump and Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former president, which ended with Trump ordering the deployment of nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions”.

The former SPD parliamentary group leader said the exchange was “not only tactless and reckless, but also irresponsible”. He referenced the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Quote: “One does not play games with nuclear weapons. When a sitting president – especially one who represents a military alliance partner – speaks so boldly and foolishly in public, I expect a clear response from the German government.”

Details: Mützenich warned that Trump’s “brutish behaviour” is helping him achieve his aims not only in trade disputes and military spending but also now potentially in defence policy.

“If this tone seeps into military policy, we are heading down a fatal path. The war started by Putin has repeatedly brought us to the brink of a nuclear conflict,” he stated.

He added that the “exchange of threats” between Trump and Medvedev shows that “the war could escalate at any moment”.

“We must prevent any misunderstandings,” Mützenich concluded.

Background:

On 1 August, Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be repositioned in case Medvedev’s provocative remarks turned out to be more than just rhetoric. He later claimed that the submarines were already closer to Russia.In a social media post, Medvedev referenced the Soviet automatic nuclear strike system known as Dead Hand and told Trump to “remember his favourite zombie films”.On 4 August, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that everyone should be “careful” with nuclear rhetoric.

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