Russia has seemingly been stunned into silence following Donald Trump’s deployment of two nuclear submarines amid his war of words with Moscow. The US president ordered the subs to be positioned “in appropriate regions” following “foolish and inflammatory statements” by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Mr Trump did not say where the submarines were being deployed, nor did he specify whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed.
Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s Russia Editor, suggested the move may have surprised the Kremlin, which has been left scrambling “to work out what on earth is going on”. He said during a live broadcast with BBC News: “Interestingly, there has been no reaction so far from the Kremlin, from the Foreign Ministry, from the Defence Ministry – anyone here, really.
“I think everyone is trying to work out what on earth is going on and what, if anything, has changed in relations to where these nuclear subs are being positioned.”
Mr Rosberg explained that Moscow’s stock market had reacted negatively to the move, which comes after more than three years of “bombastic and provocative” statements by Medvedev.
He added: “There has been reactions from the Moscow stock market, which has fallen sharply. Judging by the reactions in the local media here, Russians are surprised to say the least by President Trump’s post.
“I suspect that nobody is more surprised than Dmitry Medvedev himself, because for more than three years he has been tweeting and posting some very bombastic and provocative social media posts – most of which have gone unnoticed, I have to say.
“But now suddently he has been noticed and he has gone under the skin of the President of the United States in a big way.”
Mr Trump announced the deployment of the submarines on his platform Truth Social.
He wrote: “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.
“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!”
This was sparked by Medvedev warning the US president of Russia’s Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities it could access as a last resort.