WASHINGTON:
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in regions near Russia in response to “threats” from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev as Moscow remained firm on its Ukraine stance despite a looming sanctions deadline from Washington.
Just days after Trump and Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, traded taunts Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in Russia’s favour.
Trump on Tuesday said Russia had “10 days” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit, along with its oil buyers, with tariffs. In response, Medvedev accused Trump of engaging in a “game of ultimatums” and reminded him that Russia possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.”
“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump said. “Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
Trump has said he will impose new sanctions on Moscow and countries that buy its energy exports – of which the biggest are China and India – unless “Russia moves by August 8 to end the 3-1/2 year war”. However, Moscow has shown no sign that it will comply with Trump’s deadline.
Putin, without referring to the Trump deadline, said three sessions of peace talks with Ukraine had yielded some positive results, and Russia was expecting negotiations to continue. “As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations,” he said.
“In order to approach the issue peacefully, it is necessary to conduct detailed conversations. And not in public, but this must be done calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process,” he said, adding that Russian troops were attacking Ukraine along entire front line and the momentum was in their favour.
Putin was speaking alongside his ally Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, at talks on an island in Lake Ladoga that is the site of a famous Russian monastery. Russian TV earlier showed the two leaders greeting monks at the Valaam Monastery, and holding candles during the chanting of prayers.
“I will repeat once again, we need a long and lasting peace on good foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and ensure the security of both countries,” Putin said, adding that this was also a question of European security.
The Ukrainian government has said the Russian negotiators do not have the mandate to take significant decisions and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on Putin to meet him for talks. “We understand who makes the decisions in Russia and who must end this war,” Zelenskiy said on X on Friday.
