Musk reacts as Russia's Medvedev makes ‘absurd’ predictions about Twitter CEO & civil war

Having already established himself as an extremist of the Russian federation especially since the nation launched its so-called 'military operation' in Ukraine in February this year, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted his own predictions for 2023. Taking to his Telegram channel late Monday, Medvedev said as “many practise futuristic hypotheses”, he would do his part. He also wrote that he was “competing in the proposal of the most unexpected and even absurd” predictions and suffice to say the predictions could be classified as absurd and uninformed, especially coming from a former head of state. 

Medvedev who is currently the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation then took to Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday and posted a thread of his ten predictions for 2023, saying “on New Year’s Eve, everybody’s into making predictions” and here was his contribution. Amongst various incredulous predictions that included a civil war in the US, the collapse of the European Union (EU) and the disintegration of the dollar, Medvedev also “predicted” that tech billionaire Elon Musk will end up as the new President of the US after the Civil War ended. Medvedev ended his thread with a tweet writing, “Season greetings to you all, Anglo-Saxon friends, and their happily oinking piglets!”

Elon Musk reacts to Medvedev’s predictions on Twitter

Four hours after the tweet, which has already garnered almost 18 million views, the Twitter CEO responded to Medvedev’s tweets, calling it an “epic thread!”. Musk later replied to his comment saying “those are definitely the most absurd predictions I’ve ever heard, while also showing astonishing lack of awareness of the progress of artificial intelligence and sustainable energy” adding that he wanted to be reminded of this in one year. 

Musk, who has been in the spotlight since acquiring Twitter, has been actively using the micro-blogging social media platform to update its users about the changes he is making, sometimes creating polls for people to help him make a decision. This backfired when he was voted out as CEO when he asked if someone else should be running Twitter. It’s not yet clear who the billionaire will choose as his successor or when he plans to resign.

Here are all the predictions made by Medvedev

1. An increase in oil prices to $150 per barrel and gas prices to $5,000 per 1,000 cubic metres. The current price of crude oil hovers around $75 to $80 per barrel.
2. The return of Great Britain to the European Union.
3. The collapse of the European Union after the return of the UK and the abolition of the circulation of the euro as the currency of the former EU.
4. Capture by Poland and Hungary of the western regions of the former Ukraine.
5. Creation of the Fourth Reich on the basis of Germany and the satellites that joined it (Poland, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, the Kyiv Republic, and other outcasts).
6. War between France and the Fourth Reich. Partition of Europe, including a new partition of Poland.
7. Separation of Northern Ireland from the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and accession to the Republic of Ireland.
8. The American Civil War, the separation of California and Texas into independent states. Creation of the union state of Texas and Mexico. The subsequent victory of Elon Musk during the US presidential election in some of the states assigned to the Republicans after the civil war.
9. Transfer of all major stock markets and financial activity from the US and Europe to Asia.
10. The collapse of the Bretton Woods financial system, including the collapse of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Rejection of the euro and the dollar as world reserve currencies. The return of the gold standard. Transition to the active use of digital fiat currencies.

Is it in good taste for a former head of state to make such predictions?

Medvedev has taken an extremist line of approach when it comes to representing Russia against western sanctions and politics related to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Having served as both the Prime Minister and President of the Russian federation, a country that is a major political and economic player on the globe, these “predictions” do give a glimpse of the lens through which Medvedev, who is touted as someone who belongs to current Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, views the political and economic landscape of the rest of the world, specifically Europe and USA. 

In an article published on Sunday in the state-owned newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Medvedev wrote about how Russia should not stick to "traditional courtesy" and should use all available means of defence in lieu of US-led western sanctions including any use or rights and property of “economy subjects” from unfriendly states. "We are entitled to do whatever we consider appropriate based on our law with their assets,” he wrote. Highlighting the US-led western sanctions on Russia since the Moscow-Kyiv conflict, he wrote, “One can only sympathise with ordinary citizens of the EU countries. Their fiery slogans about solidarity with Ukraine will not warm the house, they will not fill the gas tank of the car”. He called the sanctions "hellish" as blockades and other restrictions on them are resulting in citizens of the EU having to “pay insane bills for utilities or fuel.”