US President Donald Trump announced the deployment of two nuclear-powered submarines near Russia in response to comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He ordered the submarines to take up positions in"appropriate regions" in case these "foolish and inflammatory statements" amount to more than that, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.

"Words matter a lot and can often lead to unintended consequences," Trump continued, adding that he hoped this wasn't one of those cases.

Medvedev is vice-chairman of the Russian Security Council. He and Trump exchanged threats on social media on Thursday. The reason was Trump's threat of punitive tariffs against Russia if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump had declared that he also wanted to impose at least 25 percent tariffs and a"penalty" on India for its trade relations with Russia, calling both economies"dead."

Medvedev, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, countered with an allusion to the Russian"Dead Hand" nuclear system. This system is designed to launch semi-automatic nuclear missiles should the Russian leadership be eliminated by an enemy strike. Medvedev also wrote that the US president should remember the danger of zombies when philosophizing about the death of the Indian and Russian economies.