Russia warns against threats after Trump repositions nuclear submarines

The Kremlin warned Monday against “nuclear rhetoric” after President Donald Trump repositioned two nuclear submarines because of what he called “foolish and inflammatory statements” by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev’s rambling comments, in a social media post, included veiled threats referencing Moscow’s “Dead Hand” capability of carrying out a nuclear strike on the United States even if Russia’s leaders were attacked and unable to issue the order.

“Russia is very cautious about nuclear nonproliferation matters, and we believe everyone should be very careful about nuclear rhetoric,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in his daily call with journalists, in which he cautioned against nuclear escalation.

Peskov’s remarks, the first official statement from the Kremlin about Trump’s move, seemed to distance Russian President Vladimir Putin from Medvedev, a longtime prime minister under Putin who now serves as deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council.

“On the whole, certainly, we absolutely wouldn’t like to engage in such polemics, nor would we like to comment on that in any way,” Peskov said, responding to a question about Trump’s announcement of nuclear submarine movements.

“There can be no winner in a nuclear war,” Peskov added. “This is probably the key premise we rely on. We do not think there is talk of any escalation.”

Since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has often intimated that Moscow could deploy nuclear weapons, while other officials, including Medvedev, and commentators close to the Kremlin have issued hyperbolic threats referencing Russia’s nuclear arsenal, which is the world’s largest.

Peskov’s effort to play down the confrontation with the Trump administration comes ahead of a likely visit to Russia this week by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who has met Putin four times in a so-far-unsuccessful bid to achieve a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump told reporters Sunday that the submarines are “in the region.”

Last week, responding to Medvedev on social media, Trump denounced the Russian’s “highly provocative statements,” which he said led him to dispatch the submarines “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences,” Trump continued, capping an intensifying exchange between the two men, who have long been at odds. “I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

Medvedev, whose relevance in Russia has waned since he left the prime minister’s office in 2020, now often plays the role of social media provocateur, issuing overheated, threatening statements.

In 2017, Medvedev was the target of an attention-grabbing investigation led by the late Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, which used Medvedev’s fondness for ordering flashy, high-priced sneakers to tie the then-prime minister to luxury properties,

Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in February 2024, accused Medvedev of funneling more than $1 billion in bribes through companies and charities run by his associates to acquire vineyards, luxury yachts and lavish mansions.

Russia’s nuclear arsenal is central to Putin’s effort to posture the country as a global power and to reinforce his conviction, shared by many Russian citizens, that Russia can never be defeated in war.

On Sunday, Trump said he may send Witkoff to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday at Moscow’s request, before imposing new sanctions. Trump has cautioned that the new sanctions would probably not deter Russia’s war effort.

After Trump last week shortened the deadline for agreement on a ceasefire to Aug. 8, Medvedev warned on social media that every Trump ultimatum on a Ukrainian ceasefire was a step closer to war between the United States and Russia.

Trump warned Medvedev to “watch his words,” then Medvedev responded on Thursday with an emoji of laughter through tears and the nuclear threat - warning Trump of the dangers of the “Dead Hand,” a reference to an automated Soviet system designed to launch nuclear weapons.

On Friday afternoon, Trump announced he would reposition two nuclear submarines. “A threat was made … so we just have to be very careful,” he said Friday, referring to Medvedev, adding “We’re going to protect our people.”

Peskov distanced himself Monday from Medvedev’s rhetoric, saying that people should look to Putin on matters of foreign policy.

“In our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state, President Putin,” Peskov said. He declined to comment on whether the Kremlin would tell Medvedev to tone down his rhetoric.

Russia has sharpened its rhetoric toward Trump in recent weeks after U.S. officials indicated he has been running out of patience with Putin’s reluctance to compromise on his maximalist conditions to end the war on Ukraine, despite important concessions suggested by the United States, including keeping Ukraine out of NATO and allowing Moscow to keep the territory it has illegally annexed in Ukraine.

In his meetings with Putin and other Russian officials, Witkoff has at times appeared to misread the Kremlin’s demands, commenting that he saw Russia’s retention of the territories it has annexed as key to the war’s resolution. Putin, however, has consistently insisted on a broader subjugation of Ukraine, including slashing the size of its military to strip it of the capacity to defend itself, effectively undercutting Ukrainian sovereignty.

On Friday, Putin said in a comment that appeared directed at Trump that Russia’s conditions to end the war had not changed and declared that any disappointment about the peace process was due to “excessive expectations.”

He said Russia’s massive losses in Ukraine - likely, by this summer, to exceed 1 million soldiers killed and wounded according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies - were not in vain.

“We do not have a single loss in vain,” the Russian leader told journalists on Valaam Island in northwestern Russia after visiting a monastery.

Since the 2022 invasion, Moscow has carefully calibrated its nuclear threat to deter Western support for Ukraine, in particular deliveries of Western missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory. Denied those capabilities, Ukraine has used drone strikes on distant targets.

These threats have, at times, been delivered directly by Putin, but also, at other times, by senior Russian officials who offer a level of deniability, including Medvedev.

Trump on Sunday reiterated his threat to impose punishing secondary sanctions on Russia oil - meaning that Russia’s main buyers, China and India, could be penalized in an effort to cut Russian oil revenue. Russia has been spending 40 percent of its budget on the military and security forces, amid declining income.

“If the deadline comes and Russia has not agreed to ceasefire, there’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” Trump said. “They’re wily characters and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we’ll see what happens.”

Pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov on Sunday wrote that Witkoff’s likely visit was the “last chance” to reach an agreement between Moscow and Washington before Trump’s deadline on a ceasefire expires Aug. 8.

He wrote on Telegram that Putin may offer a partial ceasefire, ending missile and drone attacks. Russia in recent months has launched deadly missile and drone attacks on civilian targets, including residential apartments, maternity hospitals, civilian transport and a children’s playground, killing dozens of civilians.

Trump last week described the attacks as “disgusting” and “disgraceful.”

Ukraine has used drones to attack Russian military targets, including oil facilities, plants involved in military production, military airports and strategic warplanes. Its attacks have led to major delays at civilian airports in Russian cities in the peak summer vacation season.

Signaling Moscow’s tougher attitude to Trump, Russian state television, which is under the control of the Kremlin, recently aired nude and seminude images of first lady Melania Trump from her days as a model, for the second time since Trump’s election.

State television anchors and commentators have also toughened their criticisms of Trump and dismissed his ultimatum on a ceasefire as theatrics.