Trump says Putin has ‘gone absolutely crazy’, considering more sanctions on Russia
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US President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after Moscow launched a record number of drones against Ukraine.
PHOTOS: EPA-EFE
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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said Mr Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing the largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine
Mr Trump posted the remark on Truth Social on May 26 as sleeping Ukrainians woke to a third consecutive night of Russian aerial attacks, listening for hours to drones buzzing near their homes and eruptions of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched 355 drones and nine cruise missiles against Ukraine between the evening of May 25 and the morning of May 26, a huge salvo that the air force’s spokesman told Reuters made it Russia’s largest drone attack of the war to date.
“Something has happened to him (Putin). He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Mr Trump said of the Russian President on the Truth Social platform, referring to the latest attack by Russia.
“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!”
Mr Trump also criticised Mr Zelensky, posting that the Ukrainian leader “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”.
The Kremlin, asked about Mr Trump’s specific remarks about Mr Putin being “crazy”, thanked the US people and Mr Trump for their assistance in launching peace negotiations but suggested Mr Trump and others might be emotionally overloaded.
“This is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The western region of Khmelnytskyi, which is home to a military airbase, was targeted by seven cruise missiles and scores of drones, and residential buildings and industrial facilities sustained damage, officials said.
A 14-year-old boy was reported injured in the Black Sea region of Odesa.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its strike hit targets at Ukraine’s Starokostiantyniv airbase in Khmelnytskyi region.
The Kremlin said the attacks on Ukraine were directed at military targets and that the strikes were a response to significant Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets.
Mr Zelensky, in a post on X, did not directly address Mr Trump’s criticism, but said the world appeared to be spending more effort on dialogue with Mr Putin than with actually exerting real pressure on the Kremlin chief.
Russia, Mr Zelensky said, can be constrained only by force, and called again for additional sanctions on Russia.
‘I’m not happy’
Speaking to reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, Mr Trump said of Mr Putin: “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He’s killing a lot of people. I’m not happy about that.”
He raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.
“I’ve known him a long time, always got along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Russia pummelled Ukrainian cities and other targets with at least 367 drones and missiles overnight on May 25, killing at least 12 people, including three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, Ukrainian officials said.
Mr Trump has been pressuring Russia and Ukraine to end the war of more than three years, but the two sides remain far apart – and while major powers talk, the war is intensifying and Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine.
European leaders have been disappointed by their inability so far to win over the US leader to their cause in the war started by Russia, and to convince him to cross the threshold of imposing major new sanctions.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped that Mr Trump’s ire towards Mr Putin would now result in new sanctions that could dissuade the Russian leader from acting further.
REUTERS
