US President Donald Trump recently expressed that he is “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This comes after a big attack by Russia on Ukraine, which was the largest one yet.
In a surprising statement, Trump said, “What the hell happened to him? He’s killing a lot of people.” He even called Putin “absolutely crazy.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned that the US not speaking up about the recent Russian attacks is making Putin feel more powerful. He asked for “strong pressure” on Russia, which means he wants tougher rules against them.
Recently, at least 12 people lost their lives, and many others were hurt in Ukraine when Russia launched 367 drones and missiles in one night. This was the highest number of attacks since Putin started the full invasion in 2022.
In the early hours of Monday, air sirens went off again in many parts of Ukraine, warning people about incoming attacks.
In the city of Kharkiv, three people, including a child, were hurt due to the attacks, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
While speaking to reporters in New Jersey, Trump said he has known Putin for a long time and usually got along with him. However, he is upset that Putin is attacking cities and hurting people. “I don’t like it at all,” he said.
When asked if he would think about putting more rules against Russia, Trump said, “Absolutely.” He has talked about this before but hasn’t done anything yet.
Later, Trump posted on Truth Social, saying that Putin “has gone absolutely crazy.” He believes that Putin wants to take over all of Ukraine, not just part of it, and warned that if he continues, it could lead to Russia’s downfall!
Trump also had some strong words for Zelensky, saying that he is not helping Ukraine by speaking the way he does. “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote about Zelensky.
Even though Ukraine’s European friends are getting ready to impose more rules on Russia, the US is trying to either help with peace talks or “walk away” if nothing changes.
Last week, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a ceasefire deal, which is a way to stop the fighting. Trump said he thought the call went “very well” and that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start” talking about a ceasefire and ending the war.
Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, which means they will stop fighting for a month.
Putin has only said that Russia will work with Ukraine to create a “memorandum” about a “possible future peace.” However, Ukraine and its European friends think this is just a way for Russia to delay things.
The first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since 2022 happened on May 16 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Aside from a big prisoner swap last week, there hasn’t been much progress in stopping the fighting.
Currently, Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian land, including Crimea, which is a southern part of Ukraine that Russia took over in 2014.