US President Donald Trump has ordered nuclear submarines to move into “appropriate regions” as tensions flare with Russia.
Trump has ordered two nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia, without disclosing which vessel or where they are moving to.
It comes amid heightened tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after Trump described Russia’s actions as “disgusting”.
The US President had given Putin a 50-day deadline to end the war, which he then reduced to less than two weeks following an unsatisfactory response from the Russian president.
Despite a now frosty relationship between Trump and Putin, the genesis of the nuclear submarine tensions is the former Russian prime minister and Putin ally Dmitriy Medvedev.
Medvedev, who once held the hope of the West as a reformist voice in Russia, is a staunch Putin ally whose rhetoric is now often harsher than the President himself.
Medvedev responded to Trump’s deadline cut accusing Trump of playing “the ultimatum game with Russia”, having previously labelled Trump’s plan as “theatrical”.
Trump responded in kind, describing Medvedev as “the failed former president of Russia, who thinks he’s still president”.
Stoking the tension further, Medvedev referred to a “dead hand” threat in a post on Thursday – which some military analysts understood as a reference to the codename of Russia’s retaliatory nuclear strikes control system.
What has Trump said about the moves?
In posts on his social media site Truth Social, Trump justified the submarine movements based on the comments by Medvedev.
He said: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions.”
Trump expanded his comments later that day to a reporter, saying: “A threat was made, and we didn’t think it was appropriate. So I have to be very careful.
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“I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia. And we’re going to protect our people.”
So far, Putin and Medvedev are yet to respond. However, pro-Putin legislator Viktor Vodolatsky continued to stoke the rhetoric.
Vodolatsky said: “The number of Russian nuclear submarines in the world’s oceans is significantly higher than the American ones, and the subs that US President Donald Trump ordered to be redirected to the appropriate regions have long been under their control. So no response from the Russian Federation to the American leader’s statement about the submarines is required.”
While justifying the moves, Trump was purposely vague while discussing the nuclear submarines.
He did not say where the submarines were being deployed, in keeping with US military protocol, or what type of submarines were being deployed.
This matters, as Trump’s description of “nuclear submarines” could mean two very different things completely.
The US navy has both nuclear-powered submarines, which are a form of fast attack submarines which contain non-nuclear torpedo missiles and nuclear-warhead Trident submarines.
Trump’s vagueness on the specifics, especially in the context of his refusal to engage in sabre rattling is notable in the context of the tensions.
What do the experts think?
Security analysts have reacted with some concern to Trump’s comments, fearing he is stoking tension with Russia over the issue.
Reporting in the US magazine The Atlantic highlighted Medvedev’s limited influence over Russian politics, comparing the former President to an online troll.
Trump’s former National Security Adviser turned critic John Bolton told CNN: “I don’t [think these actions are warranted]. I think it’s very risky business for a lot of reasons. Most significantly, it seems to reveal that Trump doesn’t really understand how our nuclear Navy works and what our plan of operation is.
“As for Medvedev, it’s true he’s a former Russian president and Russian prime minister, in fact but he’s always subordinate to Vladimir Putin. Right now, the position he holds is equivalent to Deputy National Security Adviser in the US. It’s really very ill-advised to have the President responding to somebody like that.”
Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists noted that the American nuclear submarines were always positioned to launch nuclear-armed missiles at targets in Russia.
“The subs are always there all the time and don’t need to be moved into position,” he said. “He grants Medvedev a response to these crazy statements.”
However, some analysts have warned against overreacting about the consequences of the spat.
Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute and a former senior Pentagon official, played down the idea that this could lead to nuclear conflict.
“It’s really signalling. It’s not the beginning of some nuclear confrontation and nobody reads it as such. And I would imagine the Russians don’t either.”
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