Ahead of Aug 8 deadline, Trump deploys nuclear submarines near Russian coast

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.

He said he ordered the submarines moved “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.” Trump and Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, traded taunts in recent days after Trump on Tuesday said Russia had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit, along with its oil buyers, with tariffs.

Moscow, which has set out its own terms for peace in Ukraine, has shown no sign that it will comply with Trump’s deadline.

Medvedev on Monday accused Trump of engaging in a “game of ultimatums” and reminded him that Russia possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favour, signalling no shift in his stance despite a looming sanctions deadline from Washington.

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 war.

He has expressed mounting frustration with Putin, accusing him of “bullshit” and describing Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine as “disgusting”.

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. This is a well-known general rule,” he said.