Russia plays down Trump's N-rhetoric

Moscow: Russia said on Monday that everyone should be "very, very careful" about nuclear rhetoric, responding to a statement by US President Donald Trump that he had ordered a repositioning of US nuclear submarines.

In its first public reaction to Trump's comments, the Kremlin played down their significance and said it was not looking to get into a public argument with him.

Trump said on Friday that he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to "the appropriate regions" in response to remarks from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. But Trump did not say whether they were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said American submarines were on combat duty anyway and dismissed the idea that there had been an escalation.

"Very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, many perceive very emotionally," Peskov said - though he added that everyone should be "very cautious" with nuclear rhetoric. US envoy Steve Witkoff is due to visit Russia on Wednesday, according to Russian media. Medvedev - who in recent years has espoused increasingly extreme rhetoric online - had accused Trump of "playing the ultimatum game" with Russia after the US President set a new deadline for Vladimir Putin to end the war with Ukraine.

Medvedev did not react to Trump's response and has not been active on X since sending the offending post. Relations between the US and Russia improved significantly after Trump took office in January - although in recent months the US President has signalled he suspects Putin may not be truly committed to ending the war in Ukraine, which began when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.