U.S. former President Donald Trump took aim at both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a blistering Sunday interview ahead of his flight from New Jersey to Washington, D.C.
“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin.” He added, “He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all. OK. We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all.”
The comments came after Russia and Ukraine launched large-scale drone and missile attacks on each other. According to the Russia Defense Ministry, its forces intercepted and destroyed 110 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 13 over the Moscow region. Kyiv authorities reported at least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens injured in a combined missile-drone strike early Sunday.
Later that evening, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Putin “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” He then turned his sights on Zelenskyy, criticizing statements made by the Ukrainian leader about U.S. silence on recent attacks: “Everything out of his mouth causes problems. I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Trump also stressed that the ongoing conflict isn’t his to solve alone. “This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not Trump’s,” he said, while raising the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia.
A longtime advocate for peace talks, Trump has been pressing Russia and Ukraine to end the more than three-year conflict. Yet with major powers talking, the war is intensifying, and Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine, leaving a ceasefire elusive.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
