Enough nuke submarines to control 2 deployed by Trump, says Russian lawmaker

Moscow: There are enough Russian nuclear submarines in the high seas to tackle two American subs dispatched by US President Donald Trump to counter Russia, a member of the Russian Parliament Duma has said.

"The number of Russian nuclear submarines in the world's oceans is significantly higher than the American ones, and the subs that US President Donald Trump ordered to be redirected to the appropriate regions have long been under their control. So no response from the Russian Federation to the American leader's statement about the submarines is required," a senior Russian lawmaker, Viktor Vodolatsky, was quoted as saying by TASS.

Earlier on Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social post that he had ordered the redeployment of US submarines "to appropriate regions" allegedly over "extremely provocative statements" by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is also the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.

"Let the two US subs sail, they have been in the crosshairs for a long time now," the Russian lawmaker said.

"A fundamental agreement that must be concluded between Russia and America so that the whole world calms down and stops talking about the beginning of World War III," he added.

Meanwhile, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, Fyodor Lukyanov, said that Trump's nuclear submarine statement should not be taken seriously for now.

"Trump, as we know, runs his own channel and reacts, so to speak, emotionally, humanly and spontaneously. I think that the armed forces, the naval forces of the United States read this with great surprise. If this exchange of opinions continues, and Trump continues to be drawn into it, then, one way or another, he will probably have to take some action. In my opinion, so far this is only at the level of words," Lukyanov told local private news channel RBC TV.

Following the American leader's statements, the Moscow Exchange index plummeted 2,709.26 points (0.99%) by 08:01 pm Moscow time (10:31 pm IST) on Friday.

Earlier, responding to a media question over US State Department Secretary Marco Rubio's recent interview with Fox News, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia agrees with the US administration that a direct military confrontation between Moscow and Washington must not happen.

"While Europeans are hysterically pushing for Ukraine’s integration into NATO and preparing for potential conflict with Russia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently reaffirmed a responsible stance, explicitly stating that a direct military confrontation between the United States and Russia must be avoided. We wholeheartedly concur with this position. Such shared understanding has been facilitated through constructive Russian-American dialogue," Lavrov said.