United States President Donald Trump has lambasted his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, describing him as “absolutely crazy” after Moscow launched its largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine, killing at least 13 people.

Trump’s comments, issued on his Truth Social platform late on Sunday, marked a rare rebuke of Putin.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” the US president wrote.

“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 added.

The comments came as Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched a record number of drones against Ukraine overnight on Sunday. It said Russian forces deployed 298 drones and 69 missiles, but that it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles.

The Russian attack was the largest of the war in terms of weapons fired, although other strikes have killed more people.

Ukraine’s emergency services described an atmosphere of “terror” across the country on Sunday, and regional officials said those killed included victims aged eight, 12 and 17 in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr.

More than 60 others were wounded.

“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

“The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin,” he said, adding: “Sanctions will certainly help.”

Sanctions

Trump has increasingly voiced irritation with Putin and the inability to resolve the now three-year-old war, which the US leader had promised he would do within days of returning to the White House.

He had long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and repeatedly stressed that Russia is more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.

But earlier on Sunday, Trump made it clear that he is losing patience with the Russian president.

“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people. And I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump told reporters as he departed northern New Jersey, where he had spent most of the weekend.

“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.”

Asked if he was considering more sanctions on Russia, Trump said, “Absolutely.”

Trump also criticised Zelenskyy, a more frequent target of his ire, in his social media post, accusing him of “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,” he said of Zelenskyy.

Europe condemns Russia

A peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains elusive.

Last week, Trump and Putin held a two-hour phone call, after which the US leader said Moscow and Kyiv would “immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire”.

Putin, however, made no commitment to pause his three-year invasion of Ukraine, announcing only a vague proposal to work on a “memorandum” outlining Moscow’s demands for peace.

That conversation occurred after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkiye for the first face-to-face talks since 2022. But on Thursday, the Kremlin said no direct talks were scheduled.

The Russian attack against Ukraine prompted criticism from Europe, too.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war”. In a post on X, she said the attacks “again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed”.

German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul also denounced the attacks, saying, “Putin does not want peace, he wants to carry on the war and we shouldn’t allow him to do this,” he said.

“For this reason, we will approve further sanctions at a European level.”

The massive attacks on Ukraine came as Russia said it had exchanged another 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv – the last phase of a swap agreed during talks in Istanbul on May 16.

That marked their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners in total sent back by each side.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies