Russia Deputy PM Threatens Romania On Twitter; Is Russian Bomber Threat Serious?
Russia has made many threats – some veiled and some pretty much right out there – against its neighbors in recent months, but Russia Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin took it to a whole new level with a recent comment on his Twitter account.
Dmitri Rogozin’s comments on Twitter followed Romania’s refusal to allow an airplane carrying the Russian deputy prime minister to cross their airspace, and followed a similar rebuff from Ukraine, which has been struggling with pro-Russian separatist forces in the eastern part of their country and has recently lost territory to Russia. According to a Reuters report, the inflammatory Twitter comments (in English, presumably for American and British convenience) said this:
“Upon U.S. request, Romania has closed its air space for my plane. Ukraine doesn’t allow me to pass through again. Next time I’ll fly on board TU-160.”
The TU-160 is a Soviet-era Russian supersonic bomber. In fact, it’s the largest strategic bomber in the Russian Air Force.
Turns out, Dept. PM Rogozin has been lighting up his Twitter account with inflammatory remarks and unveiled threats. You can read them for yourself on his English Twitter page here.
So, how serious is a Tweet from Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister? Serious enough that Romania has queried Moscow, asking for an official explanation and demanding to know whether the threat of a military flyover with a strategic bomber represents the Russian Federation’s official position.
According to a Voice of America report, Romania’s foreign ministry had this to say about the Russian DPM’s Twitter threat to fly a TU-160 Russian strategic bomber over Romania:
“(Romania wants to know whether this is) the Russian Federation’s official position towards Romania as an EU and NATO member. (Romania) believes the threat of using a Russian strategic bomber plane by a Russian deputy prime minister is a very grave statement under the current regional context… the Russian Federation has broken Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty… while pro-Russian separatists are violating public order in the neighboring state.”
The Russian Twitter threat comes in the wake of recent antagonistic behavior by the Russians towards the United States near Romanian territory.
In related Inquisitr reports, China appears to be building towards potential hostilities in the South China Sea and an Iranian admiral has recently threatened U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, calling them “easy targets,” and the North Koreans continue to rattle their sabers in the general direction of the U.S.
What do you think? Should Romania take it seriously when the Russian deputy prime minister gets on his Twitter account and threatens to fly a TU-160 Russian strategic bomber over the country? Should the United States respond to the Twitter threat to Romania from Russia?
[Image via Shutterstock]
