President Donald Trump slammed Vladimir Putin in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, writing that the Russian president is “playing with fire” as Moscow continues its war against Ukraine. Trump has had a hard time making good on his campaign promise to broker a ceasefire between the two nations, and this weekend saw some of Russia’s deadliest attacks on Ukraine in months.
RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, is amused by Trump’s warnings to Putin.
“President Trump warns Moscow, claiming Russia avoided ‘REALLY BAD’ consequences only thanks to him,” RT posted on X. “‘Putin doesn’t realize… he’s playing with fire!’ — Trump’s message leaves little room for misinterpretation Until he posts the opposite tomorrow morning.”
The post included a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post taunting Putin. “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!” the president wrote, implying that he has been protecting Russia.
Just last week, Trump said that he and Putin had an “excellent” two-hour conversation, posting on Truth Social that Ukraine and Russia would “immediately” start ceasefire talks and that the call “went very well.” The call came as Trump had shown Putin, who started the war, a tremendous amount of grace, largely blaming the conflict on former President Joe Biden and even Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. Trump shifted blame to Zelensky last month when asked about a Russian strike.
Russia and Ukraine held a major prisoner exchange over the weekend, but that didn’t stop Russia from launching attacks, killing at least 12 people in Ukraine. The aggression has clearly irked Trump, who wrote Monday on Truth Social that Putin had “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 added.
In 2022, Trump called Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “savvy.”
The Kremlin said Trump’s harsh comments about Putin were “connected to an emotional overload of everyone involved,” according to the BBC.
Putin apparently promised to write a “memorandum of peace,” but he has not sent the document to Trump, leading Trump to consider new sanctions, CNN reported on Tuesday. A group of Republicans in Congress is calling for sanctions on Russia, as well. The Kremlin said Tuesday that Putin and Trump agreed to a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia.
Trump has made the war between Russia and Ukraine a major issue for his administration. He said repeatedly during his 2024 presidential campaign that he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine on his first day in office. He later said that promise was made “in jest.”
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