New Delhi: The Kremlin on Monday urged restraint in nuclear rhetoric following comments by US President Donald Trump about repositioning American nuclear submarines. It marked Russia’s first official reaction to Trump’s claim last Friday that he had ordered two US subs to move to “the appropriate regions” in response to remarks by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warning of possible war between the nuclear powers.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov downplayed the strategic significance of Trump’s statement, noting that the presence of US submarines on active duty is routine.
“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing,” Peskov said, according to media reports.
He added that Moscow had no desire to engage in a rhetorical back-and-forth: “But in general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way. Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric.”
Peskov also emphasized that Russia does not view Trump’s remarks as an escalation in nuclear tensions.
“We do not believe that we are talking about any escalation now. It is clear that very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, are perceived very emotionally by many people,” he said.
When asked whether the Kremlin had advised Medvedev to dial down his online confrontation with Trump, Peskov did not respond directly.
“Listen, in every country, members of the leadership… have different points of view on events that are taking place, different attitudes. There are people who are very, very tough-minded in the United States of America and in European countries, so this is always the case,” he said.
He concluded by stressing that President Vladimir Putin ultimately shapes Russia’s foreign policy: “But the main thing, of course, is the position of President (Vladimir) Putin. You know that in our country, foreign policy is formulated by the head of state, that is, President Putin.”