Everyone should be cautious when making statements about nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday in response to US President Donald Trump's order to deploy US nuclear-powered submarines “closer to Russia”.
Peskov, quoted by Reuters, admitted that it was obvious that American submarines were already in combat service. He also emphasized that Moscow had no intention of engaging in a polemic with Washington on the matter.
Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear-powered submarines to “appropriate areas” on Friday in response to threats from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He later added in an interview with Newsmax that they were now “closer to Russia.”
“The former president of Russia, who currently heads one of the most important institutions (he is the vice-chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation – PAP), said some very bad things about the nuclear energy. And when the word 'nuclear' is mentioned, a red flag goes off in my mind and I think it's worth being careful,” Trump explained in an interview with Newsmax.
“That's why I sent two nuclear submarines to the region. I just want to make sure that his words are just words and nothing more,” he added. Asked if the submarines were now closer to Russia, he said: “They are closer to Russia, yes—they are closer to Russia.”
Medvedev told Trump on Telegram to “remember your favorite movies about the 'walking dead,' and also how dangerous a 'dead hand' that doesn't exist in nature can be.”
“Dead hand” is a colloquial term for the Soviet Perimeter system, which was used to respond to a potential nuclear attack.
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