Donald Trump orders nuclear submarines closer to Russia in power-play with Putin

Donald Trump has ordered nuclear submarines to be moved closer to Russia in response to threats made by the country's former president.

In a post shared to his Truth Social, Mr Trump called out ex-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev following statements that he made. The US President said in response he would move nuclear submarines "appropriate regions" closer to Russia.

"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, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that," Mr Trump said. It comes after Donald Trump recently reignited his feud with Sadiq Khan in front of Keir Starmer, with a savage jibe at the London

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"Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Mr Trump and Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, traded taunts in recent days after the Republican said on Tuesday that Russia had 10 days from today" to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit, along with its oil, with higher tariffs.

Medvedev accused Mr Trump of engaging in a "game of ultimatums" and said Russia still possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities after the Republican told the former president to "watch his words." The battle of words emerged after Mr Trump reportedly undid months of denying or limiting aid to Ukraine as he aimed to broker a peace between Kyiv and Moscow.

Mr Trump agreed to send more lethal aid to Ukraine, sparking fury in Moscow where Putin and his allies had relished the US President's previous unwillingness to support Kyiv as much as his predecessor Joe Biden. Medvedev meanwhile has emerged as one of the Kremlin's most outspoken anti-Western hawks since Russia sent tens of thousands of its troops into Ukraine.

Kremlin critics slammed him as an irresponsible loose cannon, though some Western diplomats have said his statements underscore the thinking in the Kremlin. Experts have warned Russia is pursuing its ambition to rebuild its influence and recreate a relevance not seen since its Soviet and imperial eras.

Multiple foreign policy analysts have raised the alarm that Putin could pursue a war with NATO by targeting the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The countries were once member states of both the Russian Empire and, following brief inter-war periods of independence, the Soviet Union.