Donald Trump has been urged to impose major sanctions on Russia after the US president described Vladimir Putin as having “gone absolutely crazy” following a barrage of Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine.
French president Emmanual Macron urged Mr Trump to turn his words into action, while Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that the time for dialogue was over, called on the US leader to implement “increased sanctions” against Russia.
It came as Moscow launched three massive drone and missile attacks at civilian targets across Ukraine in as many days. In what Ukraine said was the largest attack since the full-scale invasion began more than three years ago, Russia fired 355 drones and nine missiles, forcing civilians into underground shelters throughout the country.
Mr Trump responded by suggesting that Putin was “crazy” for stepping up attacks on Ukraine, adding that he “didn’t know what was wrong” with the Russian leader.
“Something has happened to him [Putin]. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” wrote the US president on Truth Social. “I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
Asked how he would respond, Mr Trump said he was “absolutely” considering tougher sanctions on Moscow. “We’ll see what we’re going to do... I don’t like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit. He’s killing people.” But there has not yet been any indication of meaningful action by the US.
The Kremlin later played down Mr Trump’s comments, saying everyone was falling victim to “emotional overload” and thanking Mr Trump for his attempts to broker peace – efforts that the Kremlin has consistently blocked.
Leading the calls for further action against Moscow, Mr Zelensky hit out over Russia’s attacks, suggesting that Mr Trump had failed to put “real pressure” on Putin.
“Putin shows just how much he despises the world – the world that spends more effort on “dialogue” with him than on real pressure,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X (Twitter).
“The increase in Russian strikes should be met with increased sanctions. Russia’s disregard for diplomacy and refusal even to consider a ceasefire must be met with a freeze on Russian finances and a halt to its oil trade.”
Mr Trump, who boasted before his inauguration that he could end the war in 24 hours, held a two-hour phone call with Putin last week that he said had gone “very well”.
But critics have suggested Mr Trump’s involvement in failed US-led peace talks has only emboldened Putin further, with the recent aerial onslaught dashing hopes of any breakthrough in efforts to end the three-year war.
It comes after Kyiv accepted an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in March that was proposed by the US but was effectively rejected by Moscow.
Mr Macron, meanwhile, suggested Mr Trump was beginning to see Putin’s “lies”. “President Trump realises that when President Putin said on the phone he was ready for peace, or told his envoys he was ready for peace, he lied,” Mr Macron said. “We have seen once again in recent hours Donald Trump express his anger. A form of impatience. I simply hope now that this translates into action.”
Germany suggested that Russia’s massive onslaught of aerial attacks on Ukraine was an “affront” to Mr Trump and could not be tolerated.
“You can see that Putin doesn’t want peace, he wants to continue the war, and we cannot allow him to do that,” said Germany’s foreign affairs minister Johann Wadephul. He added that it was an “affront to US president Donald Trump, who tried to bring the Kremlin chief to the negotiating table”.
Ukrainian opposition leader Kira Rudik told The Independent that Mr Trump’s strategy of keeping Putin at the negotiating table had “led nowhere”. “The only thing we are waiting for now is for the US to switch to the promised strategy of peace through strength,” she said.
Mr Trump followed his remarks on Putin with a rebuke against Mr Zelensky, who he said was doing his country “no favours by talking the way he does”.
The American leader was referring to Mr Zelensky’s earlier message on the Telegram messenger service, in which he accused the Trump administration of “encouraging” Russian attacks on Ukraine by being silent in the face of continued aggression from the Kremlin.
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