President Trump offered some of his toughest remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, saying he was “not happy” at all with Putin after the latest deadly attacks in Ukraine.
“Yeah, I’ll give you an update, 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,” Trump told reporters who asked for an update on Russia.
“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. 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,” Trump continued in remarks from Morristown, N.J., where he was preparing to take Air Force One back to Washington, D.C.
Trump also said he’s “surprised at what he’s seeing” and that new U.S. sanctions on Russia were a possibility.
“I’m surprised, I’m very surprised,” Trump said. “We’ll see what I’m going to do.
“I don’t like what Putin is doing. Not even a little bit. He’s killing people. And something happened to this guy. And I don’t like it.”
Russia overnight launched one of the largest missile and drone attacks on Ukraine yet, killing at least a dozen people and injuring scores more.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in posts on social media said nearly 300 attack drones had been launched by Russia overnight, as well as 70 million of various types, including ballistic missiles.
Kyiv was attacked as part of the onslaught, along with 11 other regions, Zelensky said.
“These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities. Ordinary residential buildings were destroyed and damaged. In Kyiv, dormitories of the university’s history department were hit,” he said. “There were also strikes on enterprises. Tragically, people were killed, including children.”
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to end the war, held a two-hour phone call with Putin on Monday and then spoke to Zelensky. He had called for a 30-day ceasefire to the war, something Zelensky seemed prepared to accept, but Putin did not.
Trump has lashed out at Zelensky several times, suggesting the Ukrainian leader was not doing enough to find an end to the war, and he has previously been more cautious and complimentary in his remarks toward Putin. That made the remarks Sunday after one of the biggest missile and drone attacks by Russia all the more notable.
Zelensky on Sunday argued the most recent actions by Russia underscored how Moscow is not really interested in peace. He also criticized the U.S. and other countries for their silence.
“The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored,” said Zelensky, who argued that “silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.”
