Putin responds to Trump's submarine move, moves 4 nuclear bombers west

New concerns about nuclear escalation between the United States and Russia are being raised by the relocation of at least four Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic nuclear bombers westward, closer to Europe, by Vladimir Putin, according to information from the Ukrainian investigative service “Insider UA”.

The bombers, which are often used for attacks in Ukraine but also belong to Moscow's nuclear arsenal, are said to be already equipped with missiles, which according to the same source significantly increases the possibility of a major imminent attack.

The Tu-95MS were reportedly moved from the Ukrainka air base in the Far East to the Oleny and Engels-2 bases in western Russia, locations previously abandoned due to fears of Ukrainian attacks.

The moves, if confirmed, come just 24 hours after Donald Trump revealed he had ordered the movement of two US nuclear submarines "closer to Russia", in response to statements by Dmitry Medvedev, who threatened nuclear war.

"The submarines are now where they need to be," the US president said late Sunday evening, adding that he had given Putin an ultimatum to cease fire by Friday or face new US sanctions.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Moscow on Wednesday for talks. According to Trump, the request for contact came from the Putin regime itself.

Kremlin: "Medvedev's statements do not express an official position"

The Kremlin spokesman tried to distance himself from Medvedev's statements, noting that "in Russia, foreign policy is determined exclusively by President Putin."

While acknowledging that there are "hardline voices" in both Russia and the West, he stressed: "We do not want to get involved in a nuclear war. We are extremely cautious in any such statements. Russia remains responsible and committed to nuclear non-proliferation. There can be no winners in a nuclear war."