Nuclear Weapons

Head of US Defense Intelligence Agency Jeffrey Kruse fired alongside two senior Navy officials in latest purge.

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s preliminary intelligence assessment angered President Donald Trump for reporting that the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites in June had inflicted limited damage, according to reports.

The Pentagon firings on Friday, which, according to US officials who spoke to the Reuters and Associated Press (AP) news agencies, also include two other senior military commanders, are the latest moves by the Trump administration to purge officials at the Department of Defense .

It was not immediately known on what grounds Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since early 2024, was fired.

But President Trump had previously decried the agency’s initial findings on US strikes against Iran.

The initial DIA assessment – which was widely reported on by US media – contradicted claims by Trump that the strikes totally destroyed the nuclear sites, drawing the ire of both the president and officials within his administration.

Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA director”, a senior defence official said on condition of anonymity on Friday, without providing an explanation for the general’s departure.

Prior to becoming director of the DIA, Kruse served as the adviser for military affairs for the director of national intelligence, and also held positions including director of intelligence for the coalition against the ISIL (ISIS) group.

Hegseth also fired Vice Admiral Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Admiral Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, according to officials who spoke to both AP and Reuters.

All three military officials said they did not know why they were fired by the Trump administration, which has demanded loyalty across the government.

“The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration’s dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country,” said US Senator Mark Warner, who is the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top military officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.

Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the US Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the US Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.

The chief of the US Air Force also made a surprise announcement on Monday that he planned to retire only halfway through his tenure.

Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants in top positions, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicisation of the traditionally neutral US military.

Earlier this year, Hegseth additionally ordered at least a 20 percent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, as well as a 10 percent cut in the overall number of general and flag officers.

News of Kruse’s firing came two days after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that she was revoking – on Trump’s orders – the security clearances of 37 current and former US intelligence professionals.

Gabbard has also announced the first major overhaul of her office since its creation, slashing personnel by more than 40 percent by October 1 and saving more than $700m per year.

Iran and European countries agree to resume nuclear talks next week despite threats of unilateral sanctions.

Iran and three major European powers have agreed to resume nuclear talks next week, even as the threat of revived sanctions looms.

Iranian state media reported on Friday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a call with his French, British and German counterparts, during which they agreed deputy ministers would meet on Tuesday.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed the talks, warning that Europe was prepared to re-impose United Nations sanctions under the so-called “snapback” mechanism unless Iran committed to a verifiable and lasting deal. “Time is very short and Iran needs to engage substantively,” he said.

According to Iranian outlets, Araghchi rejected the threat, accusing the European trio of lacking “legal and moral competence” to trigger snapback sanctions and warning of consequences if they did so.

The three European governments, backed by the United States, have accused Tehran of advancing uranium enrichment in violation of international commitments and say its programme could be used to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has said its work is strictly for civilian purposes, and Western governments have not provided any evidence that Tehran is weaponising its nuclear programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has said Iran remains far from building a nuclear weapon. In March, US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard testified that intelligence agencies had found no evidence of Iran moving towards a bomb.

Talks between Iran and the US collapsed in June after Washington and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day conflict.

Since then, IAEA inspectors have not been allowed into Iran’s facilities, despite the agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi, stressing that inspections are essential.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned the IAEA to abandon its “double standards” if it hopes to restore cooperation over the country’s nuclear programme, amid an acute mistrust following Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, and the UN nuclear watchdog’s refusal to condemn the strikes.

In July, Pezeshkian signed a law suspending Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA, with Tehran making it clear that it no longer trusts the agency to act impartially.

Negotiations between Tehran and the Europeans last took place in Geneva on June 20, while the fighting was still under way. Little progress was reported at the time.

Iran’s state broadcaster said an Iranian delegation would travel to Vienna on Friday to meet IAEA officials, but offered no further details.

Chinese military to showcase advanced fighter planes, missile systems on 80th anniversary of end of World War II.

China will stage a massive military parade next month in the heart of Beijing to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II, and to showcase new Chinese weaponry that will be “displayed to the outside world for the first time”, state media report.

Hundreds of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers as well as ground forces with the latest military equipment, will be featured in the parade, Chinese military officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said the military parade and “joint armament formations… will be organised in a manner reflecting their functions in real combat”, and will include air, land and sea combat groups.

“The military parade will feature new fourth-generation equipment as the core, including advanced tanks, carrier-based aircraft and fighter jets, organised into operational modules to demonstrate Chinese military’s system-based combat capability,” China’s state-affiliated Global Times media outlet reported.

“All the weaponry and equipment on display in this military parade are domestically produced active-duty main battle equipment. This event showcases a concentrated display of the new generation of weaponry and equipment of the Chinese military,” the Global Times added.

The September 3 event will be the second parade since 2015 to mark the formal surrender of Japanese forces in 1945.

Foreign military attaches and security analysts told the Reuters news agency that they were expecting China’s military to display a host of new weaponry and equipment at the parade, including military trucks fitted with devices to take out drones, new tanks and early warning aircraft to protect China’s aircraft carriers.

The United States and its allies will be closely watching the display of military might, particularly for China’s expanding arsenal of missiles, especially antiship missile systems and weapons with hypersonic capabilities.

The “Victory Day” parade, involving 45 contingents of troops, will take about 70 minutes to file past President President Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The Chinese leader will be accompanied by a number of invited foreign leaders and dignitaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the last anniversary parade in 2015.

Chinese authorities have stepped up security in downtown Beijing since early August, when the first large-scale parade rehearsal was held, setting up checkpoints, diverting road traffic and shutting shopping malls and office buildings.

RUSSIAN tyrant Vladimir Putin gave an Alaskan local a brand new £16,000 motorbike while visiting the US for his high-stakes summit with Donald Trump.

Mark Warren, 66, was given the bike after footage of him complaining he couldn’t fix his Soviet-era motorcycle went viral on Russian media.

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The retired fire inspector, who lives in Anchorage, where the US and Russian leaders met last Friday, rode off with a brand new Ural Gear Up sidecar.

Manufacturing firm Ural, a motors company founded in 1941 in Western Siberia when it was under Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union, now operates in Kazakhstan.

Warren complained he was unable to obtain the correct parts to fix the motorcycle because of supply-and-demand issues and sanctions on Russia.

State-sponsored Russian media spotted Warren running errands on the bike one week before the Trump and Putin summit.

He said: “It went viral, it went crazy, and I have no idea why, because Im really just a super-duper normal guy.

“They just interviewed some old guy on a Ural, and for some reason they think its cool.”

On August 13, two days before the Trump-Putin summit to discuss the war in Ukraine, Warren received a call from a Russian journalist.

They told him: “They’ve decided to give you a bike.”

Warren said he was also sent a document noting the gift was arranged through the Russian Embassy in the States.

The Alaska man thought it was a scam – but after Trump and Putin departed Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson following their three-hour summit, he got another call about the bike.

Warren was told his new £16,000 bike was at the same base the world leaders had met at.

He was instructed to go to an Anchorage hotel for the handoff.

After arriving alongside his wife, he met six Russian men who presented him with the mind-boggling gift.

“I dropped my jaw,” he said.

“I went, ‘You’ve got to be joking me’.”

He said the men only asked to interview and picture him.

Two reporters and someone from the group got on the bike with him while he drove around the car park to show it off.

The lucky punter had reservations about the Ural being a malicious Russian scam.

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But he accepted the gift, which according to its paperwork was manufactured on August 12.

He said: “The obvious thing here is that it rolled off the showroom floor and slid into a jet within probably 24 hours.”

And he told the Daily Mail: “I’m dumbfounded. I guess I should probably write Putin a thank you letter or something.

“I haven’t. I’ve been so busy it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

He added: “It’s super cool, you know? I mean, it’s just such a unique bike.”

It comes as Putin continues to wage his bloody war on Ukraine.

The despot unleashed a fresh breakthrough assault just hours before his summit with Trump.

And just hours after Trump’s summit with European allies, Russia blitzed Ukraine over Monday night with 270 drones and missiles.

The brutal attacks targeted energy and transport infrastructure.

Just before Zelesnky and his European counterparts were set to meet Trump on Monday, another vicious attack killed 14 people and injured dozens in Ukraine.

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North Korea’s leader threatens to speed up Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal expansion over a sign of ‘hostile intent’.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to accelerate the expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal, condemning ongoing United States-South Korea military exercises as a sign of “hostile intent”, according to state media.

Kim, who made the remarks during a visit to a naval destroyer, called the drills “an obvious expression of their will to provoke war”, according to a report published on Tuesday.

He insisted North Korea must “rapidly expand” its nuclear weapons programme, pointing to the inclusion of what he called “nuclear elements” in the drills.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills began this week, combining large-scale field manoeuvres with upgraded responses to what the US and South Korea claim are North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities.

The exercises will run for 11 days, with half of the 40 field training events rescheduled to September.

Purely defensive

South Korean officials said the adjustment reflects President Lee Jae Myung’s call to lower tensions, though analysts doubt Pyongyang will respond positively.

Seoul and Washington claim the exercises are purely defensive, but Pyongyang regularly denounces them as preparations for invasion and has often replied with weapons tests.

North Korea’s position is expected to feature in talks between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee in Washington later this month, with efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions high on the agenda.

“Through this move, North Korea is demonstrating its refusal to accept denuclearisation and the will to irreversibly upgrade nuclear weapons,” said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Research published by the Federation of American Scientists last year estimated that North Korea may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads, though the number actually assembled was likely closer to 50.

Alongside its nuclear ambitions, Pyongyang is also advancing its naval capabilities. The North Korean public broadcaster KCNA reported that the country aims to complete construction of a third 5,000-tonne Choe Hyon-class destroyer by October next year, and is testing cruise and anti-air missiles for the vessels.

STRICKEN Ukraine will be forced to surrender large swathes of its eastern territory and forget about ever joining Nato under peace terms haggled by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The war-torn country’s desire to join the European Union is also in doubt after the two superpower presidents held controversial talks in Alaska on Friday.

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Ukraine would be outlawed from joining the Western defence alliance, but have its redrawn borders underwritten by its US and European allies in the terms suggested by the White House.

Allies have offered “ironclad” security assurances to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression if a peace deal can be forged.

But it would stop short of Nato Article 5 status, which sees members of the alliance leap to the aid of any member that is attacked.

Ukraine’s desire to join Nato has been blamed as a root cause of President Putin’s invasion.

He has insisted “Nyet” — Russian for “No” — over the proposal.

But the future security of Ukraine is the number one condition of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

British and other European troops could be committed to police the peace, with President Trump finally conceding the Americans would play a vital role in the future defence of Ukraine.

Last night, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly stated: “The good news is that America is ready to participate in such security guarantees and is not leaving it to the Europeans alone.”

And PM Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Trump’s “leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing” should be commended.

Calls for an immediate ceasefire were dropped by world leaders yesterday, after Mr Trump announced he was instead pursuing a more stable and lasting “peace deal”.

Plans haggled at Friday’s face-to-face summit are being circulated by the Americans after the US President and the Kremlin tyrant met each other in Anchorage, Alaska, for more than three hours.

The Sun has been told a surrender deal would see Ukraine forced to reject Nato membership and other “multinational deals”.

Negotiations would also begin about ceding control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Eastern Ukraine which are, in part, heavily occupied by Russian troops.

There was confusion last night over whether the talks would focus on territory currently held by the Kremlin invaders, or whether the wider regions were on the table.

Yesterday, EU leaders insisted: “Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine’s pathway to EU and Nato.”

However, that does not rule out Mr Zelensky deciding to withdraw Ukraine’s stated aim to join both alliances as part of the wider deal.

He will fly to Washington DC on Monday to meet with President Trump at the White House — six months after their disastrous Oval Office bust up, which saw the leader of the free world savage Mr Zelensky live on TV.

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Russia has long claimed Donetsk and Luhansk are more loyal to Moscow than Kyiv, while Mr Zelensky has publicly ruled out giving up the land.

However, he is under massive pressure to concede and end the bloody three-and-a-half year conflict, which has seen more than a million deaths.

European leaders were locked in talks with the White House this weekend, as the world scrambled to catch up with what Mr Trump had offered Mr Putin to end the war.

Last night, UK government sources said the PM was playing a key role in selling the terms of the deal to wider Western allies in a series of calls following the talks between the Americans and Russians.

I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal. This is important progress and will be crucial in deterring Putin from coming back for more

Sir Keir Starmer’s statement

President Trump yesterday insisted it is time for Mr Zelensky to choose whether to agree with the terms of the deal — as the pair prepared to meet tomorrow.

The White House has also offered to play host to a trilateral summit between the Russians and Ukrainians if the deal is within reach.

Speaking following Friday’s talks, where he met with his Russian counterpart for the first time in six years, President Trump insisted it was “a great and very successful day in Alaska!”

He wrote on his Truth Social website: “The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of Nato.

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“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up. President Zelensky will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.

“Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Last night, President Putin also welcomed progress made at the talks, after leaving the summit without taking questions from hundreds of assembled journalists.

In a televised address released by the Kremlin, he said: “The conversation was very frank, substantive, and, in my opinion, brings us closer to the necessary decisions.”

He added: “We have not had direct negotiations of this kind at this level for a long time. We had the opportunity to calmly and in detail reiterate our position.”

We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and NATO

European statement

In a long statement, President Zelensky welcomed the offer of security guarantees outlined by Mr Trump, in a tentative sign he may be willing to sign up to the terms.

He wrote: “A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure.

“All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.

“Thousands of our people remain in captivity — they all must be brought home. Pressure on Russia must be maintained while the aggression and occupation continue.”

He went on: “In my conversation with President Trump, I said that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war. Sanctions are an effective tool.

“Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with involvement of Europe and the US.

“All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine’s participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine. I thank our partners who are helping.”

Yesterday the PM was taking part in a round of behind the scenes diplomacy, speaking to the White House and European capitals.

He heaped praise on Mr Trump, saying his “efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.

He went on: “His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended.”

But the PM warned: “While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks involving President Zelensky.

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The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him. I spoke to President Zelensky, President Trump and other European partners, and we all stand ready to support this next phase.

“I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal.

“This is important progress and will be crucial in deterring Putin from coming back for more.

“In the meantime, until he stops his barbaric assault, we will keep tightening the screws on his war machine with even more sanctions, which have already had a punishing impact on the Russian economy and its people. Our unwavering support for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes.”

In a joint statement, Sir Keir and European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, said: “We are clear Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries.

Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and Nato.

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Priti: Trump was right to set up meeting

By Sophia Sleigh

DONALD Trump was right to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table on Friday, says Dame Priti Patel.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary gave her support to the US President’s efforts — while adding that Britain must keep up “tightening the screws” on the Russian tyrant’s regime.

The Tory grandee told The Sun on Sunday: “It is right President Trump has brought Putin to the negotiating table.

“And we support his efforts in ending Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“Now is the time for the Euro-Atlantic partnership to be stronger than ever in supporting Ukraine, and forcing Putin to end his barbaric war.

“The British government must lead the charge, as we have done, in keeping pressure on Putin through sanctions — and demonstrate we can lead efforts to support Ukraine, and tighten the screws on Russia.”

But others had concerns that no ceasefire had been reached yesterday — even with Mr Trump having warned Putin of “severe consequences” if fighting did not stop.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “Trump has to tell him to agree to a ceasefire or he will up the ante on sanctions, secondary sanctions and weapons to Ukraine. Putin has to fear what Trump can do — more than his own generals and politicians who would come after him.”

He added that Trump “must understand who Putin is, a KGB man who has one purpose in life — to recreate the Soviet Union”.

Former PM Boris Johnson also said that Trump was right to make a move as Putin was weaker than he seemed owing to the war’s damage to Russia’s economy.

Most Labour MPs remained quiet on the talks. Crossbench peer and intelligence expert Lord Peter Ricketts said they were a “clear win” for Putin.

Eighty years after the first and only time nuclear weapons have been used – the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 – the risk of the unthinkable happening again has never been greater.

The world’s largest nuclear powers – Russia and the United States – are as close as they’ve been to conflict since the height of the Cold War.

As they upgrade their nuclear capabilities, even talking openly about using them, all signs point to the beginnings of a second nuclear arms race.

Only this time, there aren’t just two players, but three: China, once a junior member of the nuclear club, is expanding its arsenal faster than any other nation.

DONALD Trump and Vladimir Putin are just hours away from holding a historic one-on-one meeting which could shape global politics.

The world’s eyes are poised on Alaska today as leaders of both superpowers prepare to sit down in a peace summit that could decide the fate of Ukraine.

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On Thursday afternoon, Trump likened the high-stakes talks to a game of chess as he warned there is a 25 per cent chance it could end in failure.

He also vowed that Putin “is not going to mess around with me”, insisting the Russian leader “wants a deal” but would face consequences if he becomes greedy.

Trump and Putin are set to meet one-on-one at Elmendorf-Richardson base near Anchorage at 11.30am local time (8.30pm UK) — under extraordinary security.

Putin, who rarely travels abroad since launching his full-scale invasion, will arrive with his feared “Musketeers” bodyguards.

They are notorious for coming armed with everything from armour-piercing pistols to the infamous nuclear briefcase — and even a “poo suitcase” to stop any analysis of Vlad’s health.

The Cold War-era military base has been locked down by US and Russian forces since the meeting was announced last week.

Over 32,000 troops, air defences, and electronic jamming systems are all in place waiting for today’s link up.

The crunch talks will be followed by a joint press conference by both leaders.

The main topic of the meeting will be crisis in Ukraine with Trump pushing to strike a deal with the Kremlin to end the bloodshed.

Also on the agenda will be trade and economic cooperation, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov added.

Trump and Putin will also have a wider meeting with delegations from Washington and Moscow.

They will then attend a working lunch with their security entourage.

For Trump, the meeting stands as a chance to bring peace to war-torn Ukraine and end a conflict which he said would never have started if he were the president back in 2022.

And for Putin, the meeting will decide how much territory he can grab before ending his bloody assault.

The Russian leader, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his invasion were “unchanged”.

One major sticking point for Moscow is the annexation of more Ukrainian territory – one of Putin’s long-term demands.

It is understood that Trump will try to convince Putin to make peace by offering him deals and concessions.

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Though Washington has said that it will not engage in any agreement on a final peace deal without Ukraine’s formal involvement in the negotiations.

Trump has insisted a deal won’t be made without Ukraine’s blessing with a second meeting set to be arranged soon.

He hinted at a more “important” second round of talks taking place “very quickly” — this time with Volodymyr Zelensky and “maybe some European leaders” in the room.

Putin has tried to sweeten the mood, praising Trump’s “sincere efforts” for peace, even as Zelensky warns he is “bluffing”.

If Putin agrees to a possible ceasefire, both leaders will reach the next stage of peace-making, where they are expected to hold a trilateral meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump has vowed “very severe consequences” if this turns out to be the case.

Zelensky, fresh from meetings with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK PM Sir Keir Starmer, has warned that any talks without Ukraine risk disaster.

Don, who hails himself as a great dealmaker, is said to be planning to present a money-making deal to lure sanctions-hit Putin into peace-making.

The deal will include opening up Alaska’s natural resources to Moscow and lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia’s aviation industry, The Telegraph revealed.

Proposals also include giving Putin access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia.

Trump is seemingly betting on Russia‘s current economy, which has been hit hard by global sanctions since he launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine.

There is also a chance that the meeting could go south as Trump warned that the Russians risk facing “very severe consequences” if they continue to bomb Ukraine and kill innocent civilians.

More than anyone else, the meeting will be key to European leaders who have long supported Ukraine and warned against future Russian aggression.

Zelensky and European leaders are likely to reject any settlement proposals by the US that demand Ukraine give up further land.

They want to freeze the current frontline as it is – giving away the territory already being held by the Russians.

Zelensky has reiterated that Ukraine will not cede any further territory to Russia.

But it may not be up to the embattled leader if he is presented with a take it or leave it offer in the latter stages of the peace process.

Trump announced on Friday that the only way to resolve the issues is for both sides to accept losses of land.

He said: “It’s complicated, actually. Nothing is easy. It’s very complicated.

“We’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.”

The MAGA president said he would try to return territory to Ukraine.

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Don added: “Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory.

“We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine.”

After Trump held a call with the European leaders on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed that Trump reaffirmed that Trump would not negotiate territorial issues with Putin.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will not be engaging in any “schemes for territory swaps” during the summit.

The summit is set to take place at Elmendorf-Richardson base, one of the most strategic locations in the Arctic.

Bristling with troops from the US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as National Guardsmen and Reserves, it is a symbolic location for both the US and Russia.

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Plans shared with defence contractors also show a new missile field in the American Midwest, according to report.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has circulated plans for its $175bn “Golden Dome” missile defence system, revealing a possible new missile field in the Midwest and details of the project’s plans to shoot down missiles in space, the Reuters news agency reports.

According to a series of slides, titled “Go Fast, Think Big!”, presented to some 3,000 defence contractors in Huntsville, Alabama, last week, Reuters says that plans for the Golden Dome include three layers of missile interceptors, radar arrays and lasers, in addition to its space-based defences.

While the presentation highlighted that the US “has built both interceptors and re-entry vehicles” for space-based missile interception before, the plans also acknowledged that the US has never built a vehicle that can handle the heat of reentry while targeting an enemy missile, according to Reuters.

Trump has estimated his Golden Dome could cost $175bn.

So far, Congress has appropriated $25bn for the system in the president’s tax and spending bill passed in July. Another $45.3bn is earmarked for the Golden Dome in Trump’s 2026 presidential budget request.

“They have a lot of money, but they don’t have a target of what it costs yet,” a US official cited by Reuters said.

Plans for the dome included a map showing that a new large-scale missile field, with systems built by Lockheed Martin, could be located in the US Midwest, Reuters reported.

The site would be in addition to two similar missile fields that already exist in southern California and Alaska.

Lockheed Martin has described the Gold Dome as “a defence system that shields America from aerial threats, hypersonic missiles and drone swarms with unmatched speed and accuracy”.

“Thanks to President Trump’s vision, Golden Dome will make this a reality, securing our future,” Lockheed Martin wrote in a post on social media in March.

Reuters said the slides did not include any references to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was part of a bid for Golden Dome contracts, alongside the software maker Palantir and defence systems manufacturer Anduril.

Trump campaigned on building “a missile defence shield around our country,” in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. At an earlier campaign event in July 2024, Trump compared his plans with Israel’s Iron Dome.

The Iron Dome is Israel’s missile defence system, which detects an incoming rocket, determines its path and intercepts it. The system was developed with more than $1bn in funding from the US.

Days after taking office on January 27, Trump signed an executive order to “immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence shield, which will be able to protect Americans”.

Although Trump secured $25bn for the system in his tax and spending bill, which also included significant cuts to federal funding for other programmes, including Medicaid, the project still faces a significant funding shortfall.

Trump suggested in May that the shortfall could be partly made up by Canada paying $61bn towards the project.

The IAEA is yet to make a statement about the meeting, which will not include a visit to Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran’s talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be “technical” and “complicated”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, ahead of a visit by the United Nations nuclear watchdog for the first time since Tehran cut ties with it last month in the wake of the June conflict triggered by Israeli strikes.

Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Monday that a meeting may be organised with Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi during the IAEA’s visit, “but it is a bit soon to predict what the talks will result since these are technical talks, complicated talks”.

The IAEA’s visit marks the first to Iran since President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the country on July 3 to suspend its cooperation with the nuclear watchdog after an intensive 12-day war with Israel. The conflict also saw the United States launch massive strikes on Israel’s behalf against key Iranian nuclear sites.

Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera in an interview last month that his country is prepared for any future war Israel might wage against it, adding that he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries. He confirmed that Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes.

He added that Israel’s strikes, which assassinated leading military figures and nuclear scientists, damaged nuclear facilities and killed hundreds of civilians, had sought to “eliminate” Iran’s hierarchy, but “completely failed to do so”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency on Monday that Massimo Aparo, the IAEA’s deputy director general and head of safeguards, had left Iran. Aparo met with an Iranian delegation, which included officials from the Foreign Ministry and the IAEA, to discuss “the method of interaction between the agency and Iran”.

Gharibabadi said they decided to continue consultations in the future, without providing further details.

The IAEA did not immediately issue a statement about Aparo’s visit, which will not include any planned access to Iranian nuclear sites.

Relations between the IAEA and Iran deteriorated after the watchdog’s board said on June 12 that Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations, a day before Israel’s air strikes over Iran, which sparked the conflict.

Baghaei, meanwhile, criticised the IAEA’s lack of response to the Israeli strikes.

“Peaceful facilities of a country that was under 24-hour monitoring were the target of strikes, and the agency refrained from showing a wise and rational reaction and did not condemn it as it was required,” he said.

Araghchi had previously said that cooperation with the agency, which will now require approval by Iran’s highest security body, the Supreme National Security Council, would be about redefining how both sides cooperate. The decision will likely further limit inspectors’ ability to track Tehran’s programme that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

Iran has had limited IAEA inspections in the past, in negotiations with the West, and it is unclear how soon talks between Tehran and Washington for a deal over its nuclear programme will resume, if at all.

US intelligence agencies and the IAEA assessed that Iran last had an organised nuclear weapons programme in 2003. Although Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent, this is still some way from the weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

UKRAINE’S fight against Putin’s illegal invasion is vital for all of Europe.

The Ukrainian people are fighting bravely for their freedom, their independence and their rights.

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But American security is on the line there, as well as British and European security.

That is why we and European allies have been providers of military aid to Ukraine.

And we recognise the indispensable role of the US in that.

It is also why President Trump’s recent decision to make more weapons available for Ukraine’s brave resistance is very welcome.

And we share the President’s frustration with Putin’s continual delaying tactics and maximalist demands.

It is clear that Putin is not negotiating in good faith.

Tighten screws

The pressure must continue to grow on Putin, to make clear that this awful war, and his wanton campaign of aggression, must come to an end.

As the UK and US get down to hard talks ahead of next week’s summit, Europe must ramp up the pressure, too.

We, as HM Opposition, will not write the Government a blank cheque.

But we stand squarely with them in defending our national interest and that means resisting Putin’s illegal war.

Russia has so far failed to achieve its war objectives.

It has suffered enormous casualties and, in desperation, Putin has had to turn to Iran for weapons and North Korea for troops.

Three years on, and despite what Russia claims, the cost to its economy has been enormous and is unsustainable.

I am proud the Conservative government, working with allies, helped to drive forward the largest and most severe set of sanctions Russia has ever seen to cripple Putin’s war machine.

Through the tough and wide-ranging sanctions delivered by the international community, Putin has been denied $400billion of funds since February 2022 — money that could otherwise have been spent on this illegal war.

But we cannot stop here. The screws must continue to tighten.

Pulling in the same direction

The US is right that we need all the world’s major economies to be pulling in the same direction.

President Trump’s tariffs on India in part show that there can be no place for Russian oil.

Europe must adopt the same approach.

There can be no place for Russian oil on our continent. There must be no safe harbour for Russian ships.

There must be no let-up in our collective fight against Russia in every corner of the continent.

That is why Britain must continue to maintain a leadership position in this fight.

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We must take the lead in mobilising sanctioned Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine.

We must ensure our Government is using the full weight of the Whitehall legal machine to find more creative mechanisms through which those assets can be legally leveraged to support Ukraine’s military efforts.

And we must encourage all our European partners to do exactly the same.

It is clear that by leveraging our full economic might, and crippling Russia’s, we can continue to support Ukraine, and force Putin to the table.

The entire Euro-Atlantic alliance must be unflinching in the face of Putin’s aggression.

From sanctions, to Operation Interflex and the 100-year Partnership, Britain’s support for Ukraine has been unwavering and must continue to be so.

Shoulder to shoulder

So we must stand up for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and ensure that at no stage is Putin’s aggression rewarded.

Because the lesson of the past 20 years is crystal clear: Putin only comes back for more.

We must stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian friends as they fight not just an imperialist Russian, but a whole axis of authoritarian states seeking to sow destruction on our own continent.

Ukraine is in a battle for its own sovereignty as well as the principles that underpin our whole way of life — democracy, liberty and the rule of law.

Britain has a history of standing up to threatening authoritarianism.

The invasion of Ukraine demands that we do so again.

We must keep rising to the challenge.

Putin has to know that if he tests the Euro-Atlantic alliance, he will fail.

Nagasaki’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral was rebuilt in 1959 after being almost completely destroyed in the explosion.

Twin cathedral bells will ring in unison in Nagasaki for the first time in 80 years, as the Japanese city commemorates the moment the United States decimated it with an atomic bomb eight decades ago.

Crowds are set to gather at Nagasaki’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Saturday morning, as the church’s two bells will ring together for the first time since 1945.

The US dropped an atomic bomb on the southwestern port city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, at 11:02am local time, three days after it dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima.

About 74,000 people were killed in Nagasaki, while 140,000 were killed in Hiroshima.

On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, marking the end of World War II.

The church in Nagasaki, widely known as Urakami Cathedral, was rebuilt in 1959 after it was almost completely destroyed in the monstrous atomic explosion, the hypocentre of which was just a few hundred metres from the religious building. Only one of two church bells was recovered from the rubble.

But, funded by Catholics in the US, a new second bell has been constructed and restored to the tower. It will chime on Saturday for the first time in 80 years at the exact moment the bomb was dropped.

Nearly 100 countries are set to attend this year’s commemorations in Nagasaki.

Among the participants will be a representative from Russia, which has not been invited since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Israel, whose ambassador to Japan was not invited to the memorial last year over the country’s war on Gaza, is also expected to attend.

“We wanted participants to come and witness directly the reality of the catastrophe that a nuclear weapon can cause,” a Nagasaki official said last week.

Spearheading the fundraising campaign for the new church bell was James Nolan – a sociology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, whose grandfather participated in the Manhattan Project, which developed the US’s first nuclear weapons.

While doing research in Nagasaki, a Japanese Christian told him he would like to hear the cathedral’s two bells ring together once again.

Inspired, Nolan embarked on a yearlong series of lectures about the atomic bomb across the US, primarily in churches, ultimately raising approximately $125,000 to fund a new bell. It was unveiled in Nagasaki earlier this year.

“The reactions were magnificent. There were people literally in tears,” Nolan said.

The cathedral’s chief priest, Kenichi Yamamura, said the bell’s restoration “shows the greatness of humanity”.

“It’s not about forgetting the wounds of the past but recognising them and taking action to repair and rebuild, and in doing so, working together for peace,” Yamamura told the AFP news agency.

On August 6, 1945, the United States became the first and only country in history to carry out a nuclear attack when it dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

While the death toll of the bombing remains a subject of debate, at least 70,000 people were killed, though other figures are nearly twice as high.

Three days later, the US dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, killing at least 40,000 people.

The stunning toll on Japanese civilians at first seemed to have little impact on public opinion in the US, where pollsters found approval for the bombing reached 85 percent in the days afterwards.

To this day, US politicians continue to credit the bombing with saving American lives and ending World War II.

But as the US marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, perceptions have become increasingly mixed. A Pew Research Center poll last month indicated that Americans are split almost evenly into three categories.

Nearly a third of respondents believe the use of the bomb was justified. Another third feels it was not. And the rest are uncertain about deciding either way.

“The trendline is that there is a steady decline in the share of Americans who believe these bombings were justified at the time,” Eileen Yam, the director of science and society research at Pew Research Center, told Al Jazeera in a recent phone call.

“This is something Americans have gotten less and less supportive of as time has gone by.”

Tumbling approval rates

Doubts about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the advent of nuclear weapons in general, did not take long to set in.

“From the beginning, it was understood that this was something different, a weapon that could destroy entire cities,” said Kai Bird, a US author who has written about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His Pulitzer Prize-winning book, American Prometheus, served as the basis for director Christopher Nolan’s 2023 film, Oppenheimer.

Bird pointed out that, even in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, some key politicians and public figures denounced it as a war crime.

Early critics included physicist Albert Einstein and former President Herbert Hoover, who was quick to speak out against the civilian bloodshed.

“The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul,” Hoover wrote within days of the bombing.

Over time, historians have increasingly cast doubt on the most common justification for the atomic attacks: that they played a decisive role in ending World War II.

Some academics point out that other factors likely played a larger role in the Japanese decision to surrender, including the Soviet Union’s declaration of war against the island nation on August 8.

Others have speculated whether the bombings were meant mostly as a demonstration of strength as the US prepared for its confrontation with the Soviet Union in what would become the Cold War.

Accounts from Japanese survivors and media reports also played a role in changing public perceptions.

John Hersey’s 1946 profile of six victims, for instance, took up an entire edition of The New Yorker magazine. It chronicled, in harrowing detail, everything from the crushing power of the blast to the fever, nausea and death brought on by radiation sickness.

By 1990, a Pew poll found that a shrinking majority in the US approved of the atomic bomb’s use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only 53 percent felt it was merited.

Rationalising US use of force

But even at the close of the 20th century, the legacy of the attacks remained contentious in the US.

For the 50th anniversary of the bombing in 1995, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, had planned a special exhibit.

But it was cancelled amid public furore over sections of the display that explored the experiences of Japanese civilians and the debate about the use of the atomic bomb. US veterans groups argued that the exhibit undermined their sacrifices, even after it underwent extensive revision.

“The exhibit still says in essence that we were the aggressors and the Japanese were the victims,” William Detweiler, a leader at the American Legion, a veterans group, told The Associated Press at the time.

Incensed members of Congress opened an investigation, and the museum’s director resigned.

The exhibit, meanwhile, never opened to the public. All that remained was a display of the Enola Gay, the aeroplane that dropped the first atomic bomb.

Erik Baker, a lecturer on the history of science at Harvard University, says that the debate over the atomic bomb often serves as a stand-in for larger questions about the way the US wields power in the world.

“What’s at stake is the role of World War II in legitimising the subsequent history of the American empire, right up to the current day,” he told Al Jazeera.

Baker explained that the US narrative about its role in the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan — the main “Axis Powers” in World War II — has been frequently referenced to assert the righteousness of US interventions around the world.

“If it was justifiable for the US to not just go to war but to do ‘whatever was necessary’ to defeat the Axis powers, by a similar token, there can’t be any objection to the US doing what is necessary to defeat the ‘bad guys’ today,” he added.

A resurgence of nuclear anxiety

But as the generations that lived through World War II grow older and pass away, cultural shifts are emerging in how different age groups approach US intervention — and use of force — abroad.

The scepticism is especially pronounced among young people, large numbers of whom have expressed dissatisfaction with policies such as US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

In an April 2024 poll, the Pew Research Center found a dramatic generational divide among Americans over the question of global engagement.

Approximately 74 percent of older respondents, aged 65 and up, expressed a strong belief that the US should play an active role on the world stage. But only 33 percent of younger respondents, aged 18 to 35, felt the same way.

Last month’s Pew poll on the atomic bomb also found stark differences in age. People over the age of 65 were more than twice as likely to believe that the bombings were justified than people between the ages of 18 and 29.

Yam, the Pew researcher, said that age was the “most pronounced factor” in the results, beating out other characteristics, such as party affiliation and veteran status.

The 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing also coincides with a period of renewed anxiety about nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump, for instance, repeatedly warned during his re-election campaign in 2024 that the globe was on the precipice of “World War III”.

“The threat is nuclear weapons,” Trump told a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia. “That can happen tomorrow.”

“We’re at a place where, for the first time in more than three decades, nuclear weapons are back at the forefront of international politics,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow in the nuclear policy programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a US-based think tank.

Panda says that such concerns are linked to geopolitical tensions between different states, pointing to the recent fighting between India and Pakistan in May as one example.

The war in Ukraine, meanwhile, has prompted Russia and the US, the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, to exchange nuclear-tinged threats.

And in June, the US and Israel carried out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities with the stated aim of setting back the country’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.

But as the US marks the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombings, advocates hope the shift in public opinion will encourage world leaders to turn away from nuclear sabre-rattling and work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Seth Shelden, the United Nations liaison for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, explained that countries with nuclear weapons argue that their arsenals discourage acts of aggression. But he said those arguments diminish the “civilisation-ending” dangers of nuclear warfare.

“As long as the nuclear-armed states prioritise nuclear weapons for their own security, they’re going to incentivise others to pursue them as well,” he said.

“The question shouldn’t be whether nuclear deterrence can work or whether it ever has worked,” he added. “It should be whether it will work in perpetuity.”

Hiroshima’s mayor, Kazumi Matsui, warns of the dangers of rising global militarism.

Thousands of people have gathered in Hiroshima to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the world’s first wartime use of a nuclear bomb – as survivors, officials and representatives from 120 countries and territories marked the milestone with renewed calls for disarmament.

The western Japanese city was flattened on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped a uranium bomb, codenamed Little Boy. Roughly 78,000 people were killed instantly. Tens of thousands more would die by the end of the year due to burns and radiation exposure.

The attack on Hiroshima, followed three days later by a plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki, led to Japan’s surrender on August 15 and the end of the second world war. Hiroshima had been chosen as a target partly because its surrounding mountains were believed by US planners to amplify the bomb’s force.

At Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park on Wednesday, where the bomb detonated almost directly overhead eight decades ago, delegates from a record number of international countries and regions attended the annual memorial.

Reporting from the park, Al Jazeera’s Fadi Salameh said the ceremony unfolded in a similar sequence to those of previous years.

“The ceremony procedure is almost the same throughout the years I’ve been covering it,” Salameh said. “It starts at eight o’clock with the children and people offering flowers and then water to represent helping the victims who survived the atomic bombing at that time.

“Then at exactly 8:15… a moment of silence. After that, the mayor of Hiroshima reads out the declaration of peace in which they call for the abolition of nuclear weapons around the world,” he added.

Schoolchildren from across Japan participated in the “Promise of Peace” – reading statements of hope and remembrance. This year’s ceremony also included a message from the representative of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urging global peace.

Hiroshima’s mayor, Kazumi Matsui, warned of the dangers of rising global militarism, criticising world leaders who argue that nuclear weapons are necessary for national security.

“Among the world’s political leaders, there is a growing belief that possessing nuclear weapons is unavoidable in order to protect their own countries,” he said, noting that the United States and Russia still hold 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads.

“This situation not only nullifies the lessons the international community has learned from the tragic history of the past, but also seriously undermines the frameworks that have been built for peace-building,” he said.

“To all the leaders around the world: please visit Hiroshima and witness for yourselves the reality of the atomic bombing.”

Many attendees echoed that call. “It feels more and more like history is repeating itself,” 71-year-old Yoshikazu Horie told the Reuters news agency. “Terrible things are happening in Europe … Even in Japan, in Asia, it’s going the same way – it’s very scary. I’ve got grandchildren and I want peace so they can live their lives happily.”

Survivors of the bombings – known as hibakusha – once faced discrimination over unfounded fears of disease and genetic effects. Their numbers have fallen below 100,000 for the first time this year.

Japan maintains a stated commitment to nuclear disarmament, but remains outside the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Russia is no longer bound by a moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range nuclear missiles, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, with former President Dmitry Medvedev blaming NATO’s “anti-Russian policy” and warning that Moscow will take “further steps” in response.

Medvedev, who has engaged in a war of words on social media with United States President Donald Trump, made his latest broadside after the Foreign Ministry’s announcement on Monday.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policy,” Medvedev posted in English on the X social media platform.

“This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,” he said.

Medvedev, who serves as the deputy head of Russia’s powerful Security Council and has made several hawkish comments on Russia’s nuclear capabilities in recent years, did not elaborate on what “further steps” may entail.

Last week, Trump said that he had ordered two US nuclear submarines to be repositioned to “the appropriate regions” in response to Medvedev’s remarks about the risk of war between Washington and Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policy.
This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps.

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) August 4, 2025

In its statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the developing situation in Europe and the Asia Pacific prompted its reassessment on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles.

“Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared,” the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last year that Moscow may have to respond to what they described as provocations by the US and NATO by lifting restrictions on missile deployment.

Lavrov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti in December that Moscow’s unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such missiles was “practically no longer viable and will have to be abandoned”.

“The United States arrogantly ignored warnings from Russia and China and, in practice, moved on to deploying weapons of this class in various regions of the world,” Lavrov told the news agency.

The US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, under the first Trump administration, citing Russian non-compliance, but Moscow had said that it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington did not do so.

The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, had eliminated an entire class of weapons: ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500km (311 to 3,418 miles).

In its first public reaction to Trump’s comments on the repositioning of US submarines, the Kremlin on Monday played down the remarks and said it was not looking to get into a public spat with the US president.

“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“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,” he said.

“Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric,” he added.

The episode comes at a delicate moment, with Trump threatening to impose new sanctions on Russia and buyers of its oil, including India and China, unless President Vladimir Putin agrees by Friday to a ceasefire in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Putin said last week that peace talks had made some positive progress but that Russia had the momentum in its war against Ukraine, signalling no shift in his position despite the looming deadline.

Donald Trump has ordered the repositioning of two United States nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions” relative to Russia, as the US president grows frustrated over stalling peace talks aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

On Friday, Trump exchanged heated words with Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow’s military leader and former president.

The day before, Trump had issued an ultimatum to Russia: If it does not agree to a ceasefire by next Friday, August 8, he will impose a package of economic sanctions.

The next day, Medvedev posted on social media, describing Trump’s threat as “a step towards war”. He wrote that Trump was “playing the ultimatum game with Russia”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump responded: “Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

What has Trump done?

On Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had ordered two US “Nuclear Submarines” to be repositioned to “appropriate regions”.

Trump cited what he regarded as threatening comments made by former Russian President  Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council. He called Medvedev’s statements “highly provocative”, adding that his actions were a precaution.

“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump wrote.

In the run-up to his presidential campaign, Trump promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours; however, several discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin have since not yielded any results.

What do we know about the submarines Trump says he will reposition?

Not much – and we do not know which submarines Trump is referring to. Trump did not say if he had ordered the repositioning of submarines with nuclear engines or submarines carrying nuclear missiles.

Trump did not reveal the location of the submarines, either, as mandated by US military protocol.

However, Trump’s statement is so far being viewed as a rhetorical threat, rather than a military one, as security analysts noted that the US already has nuclear-powered submarines that are deployed and capable of striking Russia as a deterrent.

What prompted Trump’s submarine move?

Mostly, his frustration over the lack of progress of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. But, in this case, the social media spat with Medvedev seems to have tipped him over into action.

Trump and the Russian military leader have been engaged in mud-slinging on social media platforms for some time.

Earlier, responding to Trump’s new deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Medvedev wrote in a post on X that Trump was playing an “ultimatum game” with Russia.

“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!” Medvedev had said.

Earlier in the week, while announcing trade tariffs for India – along with an extra penalty for buying Russian oil – Trump stated that he did not care if India and Russia “take their dead economies down together”.

In a Telegram post on Thursday, Medvedev wrote that Trump should “revisit his favourite movies about the living dead and recall just how dangerous the mythical ‘Dead Hand’ can be”.

Russia’s “Dead Hand system” is a Cold War-era automatic nuclear retaliation mechanism designed to launch a counterstrike even if the Russian leadership is wiped out in a first strike.

Trump replied: “Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”

Speaking to reporters after his post about the nuclear submarines, Trump said on Friday: “We just have to be careful. And a threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful.

“A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we’re going to protect our people.”

Who has more nuclear power: Russia or the US?

Combined, the US and Russia account for nearly 87 percent of the world’s total nuclear arsenal. The geopolitical rivals control about 83 percent of the nuclear warheads actually deployed or ready for operational use.

Despite significant post-Cold War reductions, global nuclear arsenals remain at a “very high level”, according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists. As of January 2025, just nine countries are estimated to possess a total of approximately 12,241 nuclear warheads.

Today, according to the nonprofit Arms Control Association, the US deploys 1,419 and Russia deploys 1,549 strategic warheads on several hundred bombers and missiles.

The US conducted its first nuclear test explosion in July 1945; the following month, it dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Four years later, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test explosion.

As of 2025, the US Navy operates 71 submarines, all nuclear‑powered, making it the largest undersea force. This fleet includes 14 Ohio‑class ballistic missile subs (SSBNs), four Ohio‑class converted guided‑missile submarines (SSGNs) loaded with Tomahawk missiles for strikes or special operations, and about 53 fast‑attack submarines designed for intelligence gathering, anti‑submarine warfare and cruise‑missile support.

By comparison, the Russian Navy fields fewer than 30 nuclear‑powered submarines, including approximately 10 strategic SSBNs, a mix of modern Borei and older Delta IV classes, that carry Bulava missiles.

It also operates several strategic‑missile cruise boats and about six Akula‑class attack submarines equipped for anti‑ship and multi‑role missions. Russia is investing in modern fleet expansion through the Yasen‑M class.

Has Russia responded to Trump’s submarine manoeuvre?

No. Neither the Kremlin nor Medvedev has publicly responded to Trump’s order to move two nuclear submarines following their war of words.

Viktor Vodolatsky, a senior Russian lawmaker and deputy chairman of the State Duma’s committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs, however, stated that Russia possesses “significantly more nuclear submarines in the world’s oceans” than the US, claiming US subs have “long been under their control” and, therefore, no specific response is required.

Last month, the US President said he was “disappointed” with Putin.

“We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I’ll think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv,” he told the BBC in an interview.

On Friday, in an apparent reference to Trump’s comment, Putin said: “As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations. This is a well-known general rule.”

On a ceasefire with Kyiv, Putin said he wants a “lasting and stable peace” in Ukraine; however, he has not given any indication that Russia is willing to achieve it any quicker.

In 2017, during his first term as US president, Trump announced that he had sent two nuclear submarines to the Korean peninsula. Soon afterwards, he held a meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.

Whether this latest move will lead to a new meeting with Putin is yet to be seen, however.

United States President Donald Trump has ordered two nuclear submarines to travel closer to Russia, in his latest tit-for-tat with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev.

On Friday, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that the submarine movements came in response to the “highly provocative statements” Medvedev, a former Russian president, made this week.

A day earlier, Medvedev had warned that Trump should be mindful of “how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be”, a reference to Russia’s Cold War-era nuclear weapons system.

“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump wrote.

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

In recent weeks, Trump has been enmeshed in an escalating war of words with Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council under current President Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev and Putin have a close relationship: When Medvedev served as president from 2008 to 2012, Putin was his prime minister. Afterwards, when Putin returned to the presidency, Medvedev served as his prime minister from 2012 to 2020.

But as Trump voices increasing frustration with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, he has increasingly singled out Medvedev, a noted war hawk, as a target for his anger. Both men have hinted at their countries’ nuclear capabilities, and their public exchanges have grown increasingly tense.

A war of words

In a social media post earlier this week, Trump pivoted from a discussion of trade between India and Russia to an attack on Medvedev for his sabre-rattling remarks.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote.

“Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”

Medvedev, meanwhile, has appeared to relish how his words provoke the US president.

“If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path,” Medvedev responded in a post on Telegram.

Medvedev then proceeded to reference the zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead, in an apparent nod to the devastation Russia has the power to cause.

“And as for the ‘dead economy’ of India and Russia and ‘entering dangerous territory’ — well, let Trump remember his favourite films about the ‘Walking Dead’.”

This week is not the first time Trump and Medvedev have taken their beef online. In late June, the two men likewise sparred and flexed their nuclear arsenals.

“Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran?” Trump wrote on June 23.

He then pointed to the recent US attack on Iran as an example of how the country might respond to other threats.

“If anyone thinks our ‘hardware’ was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines,” Trump wrote. “They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built.”

He also took a jab at Medvedev’s position under Putin, suggesting that Medvedev’s threats were irresponsible.

“I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS’,” Trump quipped.

Frustrations over Ukraine war

The high-stakes back-and-forth comes as Trump becomes increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress towards peace in Ukraine.

Since February 2022, a slow-grinding war has unfolded in the country, as Ukraine attempts to repel a full-scale invasion from Russia.

Trump entered his second term as president pledging to be a global “peacemaker and unifier”, and his administration has openly advocated for the Republican leader to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

But his efforts to resolve the dispute between Ukraine and Russia have stalled.

Early in his second term, Trump himself faced criticism for appearing to undermine Ukraine’s cause, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and appearing to offer Russia concessions, including annexed Ukrainian territory.

By contrast, Trump initially took a warm approach to Putin, telling Zelenskyy in a fiery Oval Office meeting, “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me.”

But in recent months, that relationship appears to have cooled, with Trump threatening Russia with sanctions as the war grinds on. On July 28, he announced that Russia would have “10 or 12 days” to stop its offensive, or else the economic penalties would take effect.

Then, on Thursday, as Russia shelled the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Trump slammed its continued military action.

“Russia — I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” he said.

But Medvedev has previously described Trump’s deadlines as “theatrical” and said that “Russia didn’t care” about the threats. He also warned that Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance may backfire with his “America First” base.

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia,” Medvedev wrote on the social media platform X earlier this week.

“He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”

UK and 13 allies have accused Iran of plotting killings and kidnappings on Western soil.

The United Kingdom and 13 allied nations have publicly accused Iran’s intelligence services of orchestrating a wave of assassination attempts, abductions and intimidation campaigns against individuals residing in Europe and North America.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday, governments including the United States, France, Germany and Canada denounced Tehran’s alleged extraterritorial operations as a flagrant breach of national sovereignty.

“We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty,” the group said.

The signatories – which also included Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK – urged Iranian authorities to halt these activities, which they claimed were increasingly carried out in partnership with international criminal groups.

A UK parliamentary committee recently attributed at least 15 plots targeting individuals in the UK since 2022 to Iranian intelligence operatives.

British officials have responded with tighter measures. In March, the UK government said Iran would be required to register any political influence activity inside the country, citing “escalating aggression” from its intelligence services.

In May, UK police arrested seven Iranians over alleged threats to national security, which Iran’s  Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced as “suspicious and unwarranted”.

Similar concerns have emerged elsewhere in Europe. Dutch security services said Tehran was behind a foiled 2024 attempt to assassinate an Iranian dissident in the Netherlands – charges Iran denied.

Authorities arrested two suspects, one of whom is also linked to the shooting of Spanish politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a vocal supporter of the Iranian opposition.

Across the Atlantic, the US Department of Justice charged three European-based gang members and later a senior Iranian official with plotting to kill an Iranian-American journalist. Two were convicted earlier this year, while the third pleaded guilty. Prosecutors claimed the men acted at the behest of the Iranian state. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called such statements “baseless”.

The allegations come at a time of renewed tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Talks between Iran and Western powers remain frozen. Last week, Iranian officials held “frank” discussions in Istanbul with diplomats from the UK, Germany and France.

The meeting marked the first engagement since Israel’s mid-June air strikes on Iran, which triggered a 12-day flare-up involving US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

While Israel insists Iran is covertly pursuing nuclear weapons, a claim it has not substantiated, Tehran maintains its nuclear activities are for civilian use only.

US intelligence agencies, meanwhile, assessed in March that Iran was not actively developing a bomb, contradicting former President Donald Trump’s claim that it was “close” to doing so