Trump suffering ‘emotional overload', says Russia
Russia has suggested Donald Trump is suffering from 'emotional overload' as it deflected his criticism of its record drone strikes against Ukraine at the weekend.
In response to the US president calling Vladimir Putin 'crazy', spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was 'taking the decisions that are necessary to ensure the security of our country'.
'We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process,' the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
'Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions.'
Peskov spoke on Monday after Russia launched another wave of missiles at Ukraine overnight, in what Kyiv said was Moscow's largest drone assault on Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Russian forces fired nine cruise missiles and over 350 Iranian-built Shaheds and decoy drones as part of the assault, which a Ukrainian defence official confirmed was the largest drone attack yet since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Credit: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Speaking early on Sunday, Mr Trump said he remained 'not happy' with Putin and his latest attacks on Ukraine, and that he would 'absolutely' consider increasing sanctions on Moscow.
'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,' Mr Trump told reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, as he prepared to return to Washington.
'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. '
Later on Sunday Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social site that Putin had 'gone absolutely crazy' and that he was considering more sanctions on Moscow.
'I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!' he 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!'
Mr Trump also criticised president Volodymyr Zelensky, posting that the Ukrainian leader 'is 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'.
The Ukrainian air force said that it shot down 233 drones and all nine cruise missiles, while 55 drones were redirected by electronic warfare. Ukraine reported that some civilians were injured. No deaths were immediately reported.
Kyiv was among the targets of the barrage. Windows were blown out from a residential building, and debris fell on the territory of a garage co-operative on the river Dnipro, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city's military administration.
The assault comes after what Ukraine described as a 'weekend of terror' in which Russia intensified its air strikes, leading to 13 deaths and dozens of injuries on Sunday.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said on Monday that he hoped Mr Trump's anger at Moscow 'translates into action'.
'President Trump realises that when president Putin said on the phone he was ready for peace, or told his envoys he was ready for peace, he lied,' he said.
'We have seen once again in recent hours Donald Trump express his anger. A form of impatience. I simply hope now that this translates into action.'
Meanwhile, Russia has signalled that it doesn't see the Vatican as a serious venue for peace talks with Ukraine after Mr Trump had proposed the papal state as a neutral venue.
'The Vatican definitely is not seen in Russia as a serious force capable of resolving such a complex conflict,' one senior Russian source acquainted with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters.
Russia's reluctance is because the Holy See is the seat of Catholicism and is surrounded by Italy, a Nato and EU member, three senior Russian sources told the agency.
They also pointed out that many Russian officials could not even fly there due to Western restrictions.
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