Kremlin Responds to Trump Calling Putin ‘Crazy’ After Ukraine Strikes

• May 27, 2025

Tensions between the United States and Russia have intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin “absolutely crazy” following Russia’s most massive aerial assault on Ukraine since the full-scale war began in February 2022.

Over the weekend, Russia launched 367 drones and missiles into Ukraine, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more. In response, Trump took to his Truth Social platform, saying, “He has gone absolutely crazy. Needlessly killing a lot of people.” He accused Putin of wanting to take over all of Ukraine and warned that such ambitions “will lead to the downfall of Russia.”

The Kremlin quickly responded to Trump’s remarks. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov brushed off the comments, suggesting they were driven by emotions. “There is an emotional overload of everyone involved,” Peskov said, while justifying the aerial strikes as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attacks, calling them a deliberate political move by Putin to continue the war and “destroy lives.” He said the strikes had no military purpose and were intended only to prolong suffering. Ukraine’s air force later confirmed that 355 drones were launched from Sunday evening to Monday morning, with an additional 10 civilians killed, making it the largest drone attack since the conflict began.

In a significant shift, Germany announced it had lifted range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this move would allow Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia. The change has raised the possibility of Germany sending Taurus missiles, a long-standing request from Ukraine that had previously been denied.

Despite condemning Putin, Trump also criticised Zelensky, accusing the Ukrainian leader of using divisive rhetoric that could make peace harder to achieve. Trump revealed he had a two-hour phone conversation with Putin last week to discuss a ceasefire proposed by the U.S., which he claimed “went very well.”

So far, Ukraine has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has only shown interest in negotiating a possible future agreement, which Ukrainian officials view as a tactic to delay peace.

Russia continues to occupy about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. As fighting continues and diplomacy stalls, hopes for a lasting resolution remain uncertain.