The Kremlin has said nuclear weapons should be spoken about with care, after US President Donald Trump announced he had ordered two American nuclear submarines to move to unspecified regions.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric.” He added that the US submarines were already on active duty before Trump’s comments.
“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing,” Peskov said, according to Reuters.
“But in general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way,” he added.
Trump made the submarine announcement last Friday in response to comments from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who warned about the risk of war between nuclear-armed countries.
The comments comes as Trump’s deadline for new sanctions against Russia approaches. Trump has said he will impose sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its oil including India and China if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to end the war in Ukraine by Friday, August 8.
Putin said last week that some progress had been made in peace talks, but also said that Russia had the advantage in the conflict. His comments suggested no change in position.
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Trump, who has repeatedly said he could end the war within 24 hours, said he may send his envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow later this week. Witkoff is expected to visit Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, according to Reuters.
Witkoff has met Putin several times in the past, but has not succeeded in securing a ceasefire. The Kremlin did not say whether this week’s visit was planned at its request or what it hoped to gain from it.
“We are always happy to see Mr Witkoff in Moscow and we are always happy to have contacts with Mr Witkoff. We consider them important, meaningful and very useful,” Peskov said.
Trump has recently become more critical of Putin, despite having spoken positively about him in the past.
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Russia has increased its air strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, while peace talks in Turkey have brought no major results beyond prisoner and body exchanges.
Some analysts in Russia and Western countries have said Trump’s public comments about nuclear submarines could make tensions worse, after his online disagreement with Medvedev. Medvedev is known for making provocative remarks on social media.
When asked if Russia saw Trump’s comments as an escalation, Peskov said: “We do not believe that we are talking about any escalation now.” He said nuclear issues are very sensitive and are viewed emotionally by many people.
Peskov declined to answer when asked whether Putin had advised Medvedev to tone down his online language. “The main thing, of course, is the position of President Putin,” he said.
