Following critical comments aimed at Moscow, the US leader’s remarks were dismissed by the Kremlin as stemming from “emotional overload.”
President Trump has accused Russian President Putin of “playing with fire,” without specifying his concerns. Trump’s recent criticisms of the Kremlin have centered on what he sees as stalled progress in Moscow-Kiev peace negotiations.
Trump and Putin spoke by phone last week and discussed potential paths toward resolving the Ukraine conflict peacefully, with both leaders describing the conversation as productive.
In a Tuesday post on Truth Social, Trump stated that “if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD.”
He then added that Putin is “playing with fire!”
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce later clarified that Trump’s comment reflected his “transparent opinion” rather than “frustration.”
“I think this is what Russia should take seriously; Americans certainly do,” she stated.
Bruce also reiterated Washington’s support for “direct talks between Russia and Ukraine.”
In response to Trump, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, posted on X that the only “REALLY BAD thing” he could think of was “WWIII.”
He added, “I hope Trump understands this!”
On Sunday, Trump also criticized Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, claiming Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” and accusing him of recent strikes against Ukraine “for no reason whatsoever.”
However, Trump also commented that Ukraine’s President Zelensky “is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does.”
Moscow maintains that its strikes have targeted Ukrainian military installations in response to Kiev’s drone attacks on Russian civilian areas.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that Russian air defenses had intercepted 1,465 Ukrainian drones over areas outside the active conflict zone in the past week alone.
The ministry stated that “the Kiev regime, supported by certain European countries, has taken a number of provocative steps aimed at disrupting the negotiation process.” It also noted a significant increase in Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, using both drones and Western-supplied missiles, since the beginning of May.
The Russian military stated that its forces have responded with high-precision missile and drone strikes targeting “exclusively at Ukraine’s military and defense industrial facilities.”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attributed Trump’s strong words to the “emotional overload” he is experiencing due to the complex Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.
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