U.S.-Russia nuclear tensions spike

[Anchor]

The conflict between Trump and Putin over a ceasefire in the Ukraine war has escalated to nuclear threats.

Russia mentioned its "Dead Hand" nuclear attack system, and President Trump immediately sent two nuclear submarines.

Song Young-seok reports on this direct confrontation between the two sides.

[Report]

President Trump, who had given Russia a ceasefire deadline of the 8th, revealed through social media that he ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines near Russia.

Public mention of nuclear weapon deployment is extremely rare.

The trigger was a statement made a day earlier by Putin's close aide, Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, urging consideration of the dangers of the old Soviet nuclear attack system, 'Dead Hand.'

'Dead Hand' is an old Soviet system that automatically issues nuclear retaliation orders if the leadership is decimated by a nuclear attack, and it is known to be maintained by Russia.

[Donald Trump/President of the United States: "A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we're going to protect our people. When you talk about nuclear, we have to be prepared."]

President Putin of Russia stated that Russia's conditions for a ceasefire remain the same, effectively rejecting the proposal.

[Vladimir Putin/President of Russia: "We have clarified Russia's goals. The most important thing is to eradicate the root causes of this crisis."]

Tensions between the U.S. and Russia may escalate further until the ceasefire agreement deadline set by Trump.

In Europe, there are analyses suggesting that Trump's remarks signal a shift in U.S. policy towards Russia.

This is Song Young-seok reporting from Berlin for KBS News.