President Trump announced Friday on social media that he ordered two nuclear submarines to move into more strategic positions near Russia. On Monday, Russian officials downplayed the comments and warned about the risk of nuclear rhetoric.

Moscow

Russia has urged caution following President Trump's announcement that he ordered two U.S. nuclear submarines to be positioned in response to recent threats from Russian officials. The Kremlin responded by stating that its own submarines are already on combat duty, and downplayed the significance of Trump's statement.

Details about the type and location of the U.S. submarines remain unclear, as the U.S. military typically does not disclose such information. Experts note that the range of U.S. submarine-launched missiles allows them to pose a threat from various oceans, and that no U.S. submarine has ever fired a nuclear weapon. The announcement comes amid ongoing tensions over the war in Ukraine, with President Trump setting a deadline for Russia to accept a ceasefire or face potential economic consequences.

Russia downplays Trump's announcement about nuclear submarines

Right now, Russia is warning everyone to be, quote, very careful with nuclear rhetoric, and they are downplaying President Trump's nuclear submarine order. You see, on Friday, Mr. Trump said he ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in what he called the appropriate regions in response to recent threats by Russian officials. But today, a Kremlin spokesperson said their submarines are, quote, already on combat duty. Mr. Trump was asked about the submarine order yesterday, but he gave few details. I've already put out a statement, and the answer is they are in the region, yeah, where they have to be. CBS News Pentagon reporter Eleanor Watson has more on this for us. Ellie, good morning, great to see you. So, where is all of this happening in the world, and what is the real risk? Well, Errol, right now we know very little about where these submarines are located, and that's because the military doesn't often share the location, and because President Trump's post on Friday was so vague. He did not distinguish between nuclear-armed submarines and nuclear-powered submarines. If he's talking about nuclear-armed submarines, there are a few of those at any given time on patrol, but the range of the missiles they carry is so great that those submarines could be in the Atlantic, the Pacific, or the Indian Ocean, and still pose a threat to Russia. If he's talking about nuclear-powered submarines armed with conventional cruise missiles, there are two of those generally in the Atlantic, two in the Pacific, and the range of those missiles is about 1,500 miles. So when the president says he's sending submarines to the appropriate regions, it's worth remembering that those regions don't have to be right up next to Russia to pose a threat to Russia. Yeah, that's a very, very good point. And we should also remind our viewers that we have this Friday deadline for Moscow to end the war in Ukraine from President Trump, that deadline. But does that really even seem likely? I viewed the post, in my opinion, on Friday from the president as a sign of his increasing frustration with Russia that throughout the summer, as he's been calling for the war to wind down, Russia has instead been escalating its attacks against Ukrainian cities with drones and missile strikes night after night. His deadline now on Friday for Russia to accept a ceasefire or potentially suffer economic consequences such as secondary sanctions may have played into this post. But even in the face of that looming deadline, Russia has continued to intensify its summer offensive. That's great context you're providing, Ellie. And no U.S. sub has ever fired a nuclear weapon. A lot of experts do not see this as likely. So should we interpret the president's Friday threat as the U.S. in a way running out of ways to pressure Russia? I think President Trump, because you saw this post side-by-side with another post he made about the casualty figures of the war in Ukraine, where he really played up how much Russia is suffering. Ukraine's suffering, too, but the number of casualties that he said Russia suffered since the beginning of this war was far greater. Him making the case that Russia should heed what he's saying and bring this war to an end. Now, the trolling between the American president and the former Russian president may just amount to that, but we should remember, as the Russian spokesperson said, there could be real-world consequences because of this nuclear rhetoric. Yeah, that's exactly right. Eleanor Watson with more on that important story from the Pentagon. Thank you, Ellie. Appreciate it.

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Breakdown