Donald Trump has called Vladimir Putin “absolutely crazy” after Russia launched its biggest missile and drone strike on Ukraine since Moscow started the war in 2022.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” the US President wrote in a social media post on Sunday night.
Trump said the Russian president is “needlessly killing a lot of people”, pointing out that “missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever”.
The attack was the largest aerial assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, according to Ukrainian officials.
At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured.
The US president warned that if Putin wants to conquer all of Ukraine, it will “lead to the downfall of Russia!”
But Trump expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as well, saying that he is “doing his Country no favours by talking the way he does”.
“Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote on social media.
Responding to Trump’s remarks on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was grateful for American efforts to bring peace, which have included the first direct peace talks in three years.
He said negotiations are at “a decisive moment that is linked to emotional overloading for everyone and emotional reactions”.
The US president has increasingly voiced irritation at Putin and the inability to resolve the now three-year-old war, which Trump promised he would promptly end as he campaigned to return to the White House.
He had long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and repeatedly stressed that Russia is more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
But last month, Trump urged on social media for Putin to “STOP!” assaulting Ukraine after Russia launched another deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, and he has repeatedly expressed his frustration that the war in Ukraine is continuing.
“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people. And I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump told reporters earlier on Sunday as he departed northern New Jersey, where he spent most of the weekend.
“I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all. “
A peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains elusive.
Trump and Putin spoke on the phone this past week, and the US President announced after the call that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire talks.
That conversation occurred after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey for the first face-to-face talks since 2022.
But on Thursday, the Kremlin said no direct talks were scheduled.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s NATO allies, including the UK and the US, agreed to lift all remaining range restrictions on the use of their weapons.
Friedrich Merz, Germany’s conservative Chancellor, said Ukraine would be able to defend itself with “long-range fire”, while France’s Emmanuel Macron called for “massive retaliation” against Russian aggression “in particular in terms of sanctions”.
