President Donald Trump warned Vladimir Putin is “playing with fire” as a ceasefire deal in Ukraine remains out of reach.
The president’s post on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon was the latest in a series of criticisms Trump lobbed against the Russian president.
It came after Russia escalated its assault on Ukraine over the weekend with a series of drone attacks.
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” Trump wrote.
Russia launched 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities, including the capital of Kyiv, over the weekend. It was the largest aerial assault on Ukraine to date after Russia invaded in 2022.
At least 12 people were killed in the ongoing barrage, including three children, according to officials. Dozens of others were injured.
Trump said on Sunday he was “absolutely” considering increased sanctions against Russia as he presses for a ceasefire, but his threat was not the first time the president has indicated his openness to further sanctions.
“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,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey as he prepared to head back to Washington.
In a separate post on Sunday, Trump wrote that he has always had a good relationship with Putin but “something has happened to him.” The president said he has “gone absolutely CRAZY!”
“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 wrote on Sunday.
In a pointed message after the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned it could not be ignored.
“America’s silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” he said.
Trump said on Sunday that Zelensky was “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does” and wrote, “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Russia’s increased violence in Ukraine came less than a week after Trump spoke with Putin for more than two hours by phone as he worked to broker a ceasefire in the three-year-old war.
The post Trump Goes Nuclear on Putin and Warns He’s ‘Playing With Fire’ appeared first on The Daily Beast.
