President Trump on Sunday condemned the decision by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to unleash one of the largest offensives in Russia’s war against Ukraine, and said he was considering imposing more sanctions on Russia in response.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey before boarding Air Force One, Mr. Trump said he was “not happy” with Mr. Putin escalating his attacks, especially as the two countries negotiate a cease-fire deal to bring the three-year war to an end.
“He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Mr. Trump said. “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 added, “We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities.”
Mr. Trump continued criticizing Mr. Putin hours later, writing on social media that his Russian counterpart “has gone absolutely CRAZY” and was shooting missiles and drones into Ukraine’s cities, “for no reason whatsoever.”
“He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Trump, who has largely focused on trade and other benefits to Russia if it ended its war against Ukraine, also wrote that Mr. Putin’s continued incursion could have dire consequences.
“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!” he wrote.
Mr. Trump’s remarks came after Russia carried out one of its largest drone and missile barrages of the war on Ukraine overnight, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens across the country.
Asked whether he was considering levying additional sanctions against Russia, which he has threatened several times, Mr. Trump responded: “Absolutely, he’s killing a lot of people.”
Mr. Trump, who has largely sided with Russia in the war, said he was “surprised” by the escalation, continuing to downplay the fact that it was Russia that initiated the war with an unprovoked invasion.
But Mr. Trump also had harsh words for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Zelensky had lamented what he called the “silence of America” and other countries in the face of Russia’s renewed attacks and said they were only encouraging Mr. Putin. “The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays,” Mr. Zelensky wrote. “This cannot be ignored.”
Sunday night, in the same Truth Social post in which he lashed out at Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Zelensky was “doing his country no favors by talking the way he does.”
“Everything out of his mouth causes problems,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Mr. Trump also continued taking steps toward absolving himself of responsibility for ending the war, which he once said he could do in 24 hours, saying that the war “Zelensky’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s.’”
Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
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