Kremlin issues chilling nuclear war warning hours after Trump piles pressure on Putin

Prominent Russian propagandists have warned Donald Trump of severe consequences following his approval of weapons to Ukraine and threat of sanctions. Yesterday the US President threatened to impose "very severe" tariffs if peace is not achieved in 50 days as frustration with Moscow grows in Washington.

The threat came as he announced measures that will see European nations purchase American weapons, then transfer them to Ukraine. Trump said: "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs at about 100%, you'd call them secondary tariffs. You know what that means.

"I use trade for a lot of things, but it's great for settling wars."

The move was met with fury in Moscow state TV propagandist and war pundit Aleksandr Sladkov accusing the United States of attempting to intimidate Russia into agreeing to peace.

He said: "Trump is trying to scare us with missiles, but this is difficult to do, Trump should be scared.

"Everyone is trying to push us to turn Kyiv and Lviv into Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Sladkov continued his threat of nuclear war, telling the audience that Russia's strategic nuclear weapon known as Yars, should be used in response.

He added: "The question is about the survival of our country we are already at war. It cannot be avoided.

"The Western task is to destroy our country - we are not fighting in Ukraine, we are fighting with NATO."

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mocked Trump on X, claiming that Russia did not care about demands from Washington.

He said: "Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn't care."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was left buoyed by the announcement which will help his country defend itself following an uptick in Russia drone and missile attacks on civilian areas in recent months.

He said: "I spoke with Mark Rutte. Another very good conversation. Mark informed about today's meeting in Washington with President Trump and about the details of cooperation between Europe and the U.S. to continue and strengthen support for Ukraine.

"We appreciate the readiness to provide additional Patriots, and the U.S., Germany, and Norway are already working together on this.

"There will also be deliveries of other weapons to protect lives of our people and repel Russian assaults. It's important to increase pressure on Russia for the sake of peace and to save lives."