US President Donald Trump condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin for the recent drone and missile attack in Ukraine.
US President sharply criticised his Russian counterpart on Sunday, saying he has gone “absolutely crazy”, after Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack in Ukraine, killing 13 people.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers,” said Trump on his Truth Social platform.
Trump also said that if Putin wanted to take control of all of Ukraine, it would lead to the downfall of Russia. He also criticised Ukrainian President , saying he was “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. This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not “Trump’s,” I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred,” he added.
Russia launched its biggest ever attack with 367 drones and missiles overnight on Sunday, striking multiple cities, including Kyiv, resulting in the deaths of 13 people. Those killed in the latest Russian strikes included victims aged eight, 12 and 17 in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, officials told AFP.
Ukraine’s emergency services described an atmosphere of “terror” amid a second straight night of massive Russian air strikes. Zelenskyy said more than 30 Ukrainian cities were attacked by the Russian attack, and 70 missiles of various types were fired.
“Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin,” he said.
While interacting with reporters, Trump said he was not happy with Putin and was strongly considering imposing sanctions on Russia after the latest attack. “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. 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,” he said near Air Force One.
Trump has been trying to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire in the three-year-old war in Ukraine and he spoke for more than two hours with Putin last week. Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for the first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years, although the talks failed to yield results.
The two countries had also completed their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners sent back by each side. However, peace efforts have stalled after Putin failed to show up in the Istanbul talks, with Zelenskyy accusing him of sending “empty heads” to the negotiating table.
Ukraine and its European allies have sought to push Moscow into signing a 30-day ceasefire as a first step to negotiating an end to the three-year war. After the latest attack, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas called for the “strongest international pressure on Russia”.
