Kremlin responds to Trump and warns: "Everyone must be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric"

MOSCOW, August 4 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday that everyone should be "very, very careful" about nuclear rhetoric, responding to a statement by US President Donald Trump that he had ordered the repositioning of US nuclear submarines.

In its first public reaction to Trump's comments, the Kremlin downplayed their significance and said it did not intend to engage in a public debate with him.

Trump said on Friday that he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to "appropriate regions" in response to comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about the risk of war between nuclear-armed adversaries.

"In this case, it's obvious that American submarines are already in combat service. This is an ongoing process, that's the first thing," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"But, in general, of course, we would not like to get involved in such a controversy and we would not like to comment on it in any way," he added. "Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very cautious about nuclear rhetoric."

The episode comes at a delicate time, with Trump threatening to impose new sanctions on Russia and its oil buyers, including India and China, unless President Vladimir Putin agrees by Friday to end the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.

Putin said last week that peace talks had made some positive progress, but that Russia had the impetus to war, signaling no change in its position despite the looming deadline.

Trump said he may send his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday. Witkoff has held lengthy talks with Putin on several previous visits, but has failed to persuade him to agree to a ceasefire.

The Kremlin declined to say whether his latest proposed trip was at Moscow's request and did not say what it hoped might result from it.

"We are always happy to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow and we are always pleased to have contact with him. We consider these contacts important, meaningful and very useful," said Peskov.

ONLINE DISPUTE

Trump, who frequently promised to end the war within 24 hours during his US presidential campaign last year, has spoken admiringly of Putin in the past, but lately has expressed growing frustration with him.

Russia has intensified the ferocity of its bombing raids on Ukrainian cities, while three brief sessions of direct peace negotiations in Turkey have produced no progress beyond exchanges of prisoners and war dead.

Some security analysts, both in Russia and in the West, have criticized Trump for escalating an online dispute with former President Medvedev — an extremist whose statements are often crafted to shock and provoke — to the point of publicly discussing US nuclear deployments.

Peskov, however, said that Russia did not see Trump's statement as an escalation in nuclear tensions.

"We don't believe we're talking about any escalation right now. Of course, very complex and very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, are perceived very emotionally by many people," he said.

Peskov declined to answer directly when asked if the Kremlin had tried to warn Medvedev to moderate his online statements.

"The main thing, of course, is President Putin's position," he said.

Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Mark Trevelyan in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens