By Reuters
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV:: U.S. President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing a massive aerial attack on Ukraine and said he was weighing new sanctions on Moscow, though he also scolded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Trump posted the remark on social media as sleeping Ukrainians woke to a third consecutive night of huge Russian aerial attacks, listening for hours to drones buzzing near their homes and eruptions of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
“Something has happened to him (Putin). He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump said of the Russian 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!”
Trump also criticised Zelenskiy, 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 Trump’s remark about Putin being “crazy,” thanked the U.S. people and Trump for their assistance in launching peace negotiations but suggested 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.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, did not directly address Trump’s criticism. He said the repeated barrage of Russian attacks reflected Putin’s “political choice” and proved the Kremlin was not interested in ending the war.
“There is no military sense in this, but it is an obvious political choice – a choice by Putin, a choice by Russia – a choice to continue the war and destroy lives,” he said.
Zelenskiy said the attacks – more than 900 drones as well as missiles over three nights – showed that Russia was “playing with diplomacy.” Russia, he said, “deserves full-scale pressure, everything that can be done to limit their military capability.”
