The Kremlin has urged Donald Trump to be extremely “careful” after the American president said he’d ordered two nuclear submarines to be repositioned in response to statements made by the former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.
Medvedev, a close ally of Putin who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, angered Trump by likening him to “Sleepy Joe” Biden and boasting about Russia’s nuclear strike capabilities on social media. Trump wrote in a furious tirade on Truth Social that he’d sent the subs to “the appropriate regions” in case “these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
Responding on Monday to Trump’s announcement, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We approach any statements related to nuclear issues with great caution. Russia is firmly committed to nuclear non-proliferation, and we believe that all parties should exercise the utmost restraint when it comes to nuclear rhetoric.”
“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process,” Peskov continued. “This is the first thing. In general, of course, we would not like to get involved in such a controversy in any way and would not like to comment on it in any way.”
“Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric,” he added.
Peskov later declined to answer a question from reporters when asked whether the Kremlin had told Medvedev to tone down his rhetoric following his altercation with Trump.
“Listen, in every country, members of the leadership… have different points of view on events that are taking place, different attitudes,” he said. “There are people who are very, very tough-minded in the United States of America and in European countries, so this is always the case.”
“But the main thing, of course, is the position of President Putin,” he said. “You know that in our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state, that is, President Putin.”
Despite previously lavishing Putin with praise—including for invading Ukraine in 2022—Trump has become increasingly frustrated with the Russian leader for refusing to end the conflict.
Trump initially imposed a 50-day deadline for Russia and Ukraine to agree to his ceasefire terms, but later slashed it to “10 to 12 days” last week after claiming he no longer believed Russia was serious about ending the war. He later clarified that the new deadline is this Friday, August 8.
If Putin continues to reject Trump’s terms, the next step could see the U.S. impose further sanctions on Russia and provide further military aid to Ukraine.
“Trump has already said he’s ready to sell Europe as much weapons as they want [to pass to Ukraine]. Before he didn’t say that … This is already a different conception of the world,” an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week.
Putin said on Friday he was in favor of “a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy for peace missions, is expected to travel to Russia on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s Friday deadline, according to Russian state media. When asked on Sunday what Putin could do to avoid facing new sanctions, Trump responded: “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to The White House for comment.
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