WASHINGTON

Two US nuclear submarines have arrived at "where they need to be," President Donald Trump said Sunday, after directing them to be deployed following remarks by Russia's former leader Dmitry Medvedev.

"They are in the region, yeah, where they have to be," Trump told reporters before returning from his golf resort in New Jersey when asked about the location of the submarines.

Trump said earlier that he directed the deployment of two US nuclear submarines to "the appropriate regions" amid an escalating war of words with Medvedev.

Medvedev lashed out last Monday at Trump, warning that the US president’s escalating pressure on the Kremlin about the war in Ukraine risks triggering a broader conflict -- not just between Russia and Ukraine but between Russia and the US.

It came after Trump threatened Russia with sanctions and secondary tariffs if it does not end the war in Ukraine in "about 10 or 12 days," much earlier than a previous 50-day deadline he set in July.

Trump also told reporters that Russia could avoid sanctions if they agree to a “deal where people stop getting killed.”

“A tremendous number of Russian soldiers are being killed and, likewise, Ukraine — a lower number but still, thousands and thousands of people…It’s a lot of people being killed in that ridiculous war,” he said.

Trump reiterated his desire to secure an end to the war in Ukraine.

“We stopped a lot of countries from war…we’re going to get that one (Russia-Ukraine) stopped too.”

(AA)