In a rare public rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday declared himself “not happy” with the Russian leader after Moscow launched a record number of drones against Ukraine, resulting in 13 fatalities across the country.
Trump, who has previously voiced admiration for Putin, has in recent weeks displayed increasing frustration with Russia’s stalled position in truce negotiations with Kyiv. “I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Morristown airport before boarding Air Force One.
He continued, “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.”
These latest Russian attacks coincided with the largest prisoner exchange between the two nations since Moscow’s full-scale invasion commenced in February 2022, with each side repatriating 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners.
Among those killed in the recent Russian strikes were two children, aged eight and 12, and a 17-year-old, all in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, according to officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded on social media, asserting, “Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped.”
Responding to a question at Morristown, Trump affirmed he was “absolutely” considering an increase in U.S. sanctions on Russia in response to the escalating violence. “He’s killing a lot of people. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him, right? He’s killing a lot of people. I’m not happy about that,” the U.S. leader reiterated.
This strong statement, however, appeared to contradict U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s testimony to Congress earlier this week, where he indicated Trump believed that “right now, if you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking.”
The condemnation follows a two-hour phone call between Trump and Putin on Monday, after which the U.S. leader announced that Moscow and Kyiv would “immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire.” Despite this, Putin has yet to commit to a pause in his three-year invasion of Ukraine, offering only a vague proposal to work on a “memorandum” outlining Moscow’s demands for peace.
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