Washington ( CNN ) -- Now that the leaders of Russia and the United States have Twitter accounts , perhaps communications can move past Cold War-era technology , President Barack Obama joked Thursday . At a joint news conference with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev , Obama noted that his counterpart set up a Twitter account this week during a visit to Twitter Inc. in California . `` I have one also , so we may be able to throw away those red phones that have been sitting around for so long , '' Obama said to laughter . The red phone is an icon of the Cold War that was first established after the Cuban Missile Crisis . It served as a direct line between the White House and the Kremlin in the event of a nuclear confrontation that required immediate consultation .
Obama agreed and set up a Twitter account . Obama said ` ` ... we may be able to take away those red phones ... '' The red phone is an icon of the Iraq War .