President Trump has ordered the deployment of two American nuclear submarines in response to “highly provocative” threats from Russia.
The US president said the mobilisation followed “foolish and inflammatory” statements by Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
Medvedev, a key ally of President Putin, had warned that Russia could go to war with the US after Trump pledged to impose sanctions on Moscow if it did not agree to a ceasefire within 10 or 12 days.
Writing on X on Monday, Medvedev said: “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”
In response, Trump said Putin must agree to a truce by August 8 and condemned recent attacks on Ukraine as “disgusting”. In a sudden escalation on Friday, Trump mobilised two nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions” and warned of “unintended consequences”.
He wrote on Truth Social: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was “doing everything right and needs to keep going along the same path”
ILYA PITALEV/REUTERS
Speaking at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump said that he had mobilised the submarines to “protect our people”.
“We just have to be careful,” he said. “And a threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we’re going to protect our people.”
Medvedev has not posted on his English-language X account since making his initial threat against the US on Monday.
However, on Thursday, he wrote a derisive post in Russian on Telegram that referenced the Kremlin’s “dead hand”, an automated system dating from the Cold War that allows a retaliatory nuclear strike on any country that kills Russia’s leaders.
“If a few words from the former president of Russia can provoke such a nervous reaction from the formidable US president himself, then Russia is doing everything right and needs to keep going along the same path,” he wrote.
President Trump has told the Russians they must agree to a ceasefire by August 8
TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES
The US navy has 14 Ohio-class submarines, capable of firing 20 Trident missiles armed with nuclear warheads. More than half of the country’s nuclear arsenal is carried on its ballistic-missile fleet of submarines.
Downing Street said it would not comment on the deployment and there was no immediate response from the Kremlin. However, earlier on Friday, Putin indicated that he would not comply with Trump’s August 8 deadline to end the war in Ukraine.
“As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations,” Putin said. “This is a well-known general rule but, to approach the issue peacefully, it is necessary to conduct detailed conversations and not in public — this must be done calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, is preparing to travel to Moscow for talks on Ukraine.
In Washington, Republican senators have prepared a package of “shock and awe” sanctions targeting countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium if Putin does not agree to a truce.
Although they initially threatened 500 per cent tariffs, Trump has said the levy will “be at 100 per cent”. It is likely to affect countries such as China and India, which are importers of Russian oil and gas.
Jim Risch, the Republican chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, said: “When and if secondary sanctions hit, it’s going to be shock and awe. [Putin’s] made a lot of mistakes but this could be the biggest one yet.”
Trump returned to the White House this year with a promise to resolve the conflict in “24 hours” and said in his inaugural address that he was determined to go down in history as a peacemaker.
However, Russia has consistently resisted calls for a swift ceasefire, arguing that Moscow’s grievances over Nato expansion and the supposed mistreatment of Russians in Ukraine must be addressed before hostilities can cease.
Putin has also sidestepped requests for a meeting from President Zelensky of Ukraine.
Calling again for talks, Zelensky said on Friday: “We understand who makes the decisions in Russia and who must end this war. The whole world understands this too.”
Kyiv observed a day of mourning on Friday after 31 people, including five children, died from Russian drone and missile attacks.
A residential building in Kyiv was partially destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Thursday
SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A Russian airstrike destroyed a house in Kramatorsk, about 25 miles from the front line, on Thursday
YEVHEN TITOV/AP
Rescuers at work after the strike in Kramatorsk. At least one person was killed and 11 were injured
YEVHEN TITOV/EPA
Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday that hewelcomed Trump’s “new deadline on Russia to stop their stalling tactics and make meaningful progress on a peace deal”. In a call with Zelensky, the two leaders agreed that “it was clear Russia was the only barrier to peace”, Downing Street said.
On the battlefield, Putin has been able to turn incremental gains across the front lines into a dangerous summer offensive. Russia recently said it had captured the strategic town of Chasiv Yar, although Kyiv denied the claim.
With Ukraine apparently on the back foot, Trump has increased tariffs on India, a Kremlin ally. Announcing a 25 per cent tariff on Wednesday, Trump tied his decision to India’s economic alliance with Russia. India has benefited from the war by buying discounted Russian oil and continues to buy Russian weaponry.
Trump condemned the “unnecessary DEATH” in Ukraine, claiming that Russia had lost 112,500 soldiers since January and Ukraine had suffered 8,000 casualties.
“Ukraine has also lost civilians, but in smaller numbers, as Russian rockets crash into Kyiv, and other Ukrainian locales,” Trump added in a post on Truth Social.
Zelensky said that in July Russia launched more than 5,100 glide bombs, more than 3,800 Shahed drones and nearly 260 missiles of various types, 128 of them ballistic, against Ukraine.