Trump responds to Russia's provocations. US deploys two nuclear submarines

US President Donald Trump said he ordered the deployment of two nuclear-powered submarines to "appropriate areas" on Friday in response to provocative threats by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"Based on the highly provocative statements made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently Vice Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to appropriate areas in case these foolish and provocative statements turn out to be something more," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

"Words are very important and can often lead to unintended consequences. I hope that won't be the case this time," he added.

This is a response to Medvedev's threats about nuclear weapons during a scathing exchange between Trump and Medvedev; in a recent post on the Telegram messenger, the former Russian president told Trump to "remember your favorite movies about the 'walking dead,' as well as how dangerous a non-existent 'dead hand' can be."

“Dead Hand” is a colloquial term for the Soviet Perimeter nuclear response system.

Medvedev's post was in turn a reaction to Trump's earlier post on Truth Social, in which the US president described the economies of Russia and India as "dead."

"Russia and the US barely do business with each other. Let's keep it that way and tell Medvedev, the failed former president of Russia who thinks he's still president, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!" Trump warned at the time, responding to Medvedev's X-Tweet post criticizing the ultimatum issued to Russia. The Russian stated that each new ultimatum is a "step towards war" between the US and Russia.

“Don’t go the way of Sleeping Joe,” Medvedev advised Trump, referring to President Biden.

It's unclear what Trump's statement means in practice, but this is the first time that aggressive statements by the former Russian president and prime minister—who has repeatedly issued veiled nuclear threats before—have provoked a concrete response from the United States. Previously, they were dismissed—including by Trump himself—as statements made by someone who had no influence on Kremlin decisions.

On Thursday, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio commented on Medvedev's actions in a similar manner, stating that Medvedev "is not a decision-maker" and is not participating in talks with the US.

"But on the other hand, obviously he's someone who used to hold office there and still holds a position in government, and his words will have an impact, being a kind of provocation," Rubio said in an interview with Fox radio.

From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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