Trump calls Putin ‘absolutely CRAZY’ amid deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine: ‘Something has happened to him’

US President Donald Trump on Sunday delivered some of his sharpest criticism yet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him “absolutely CRAZY” and blaming him for escalating a deadly war in Ukraine with a wave of missile and drone attacks on major cities.

In a post on X, Trump said he once had “a very good relationship” with Putin but now believes “something has happened to him.”

“He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers,” Trump wrote. “Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”

Trump’s remarks came as Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian officials said at least 12 people were killed and dozens more wounded as missiles and drones pounded Kyiv and other cities for the third straight night.

He also targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former US President Joe Biden, saying the war is a result of “Gross Incompetence and Hatred” and “would never have started if I were President.”

“This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’” he said. “I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires.”

The US president has increasingly voiced irritation at Putin and the inability to resolve the war, now in its third year, which Trump promised he would promptly end as he campaigned to return to the White House.

Speaking to reporters earlier Sunday as he left his golf club in northern New Jersey, Trump reiterated his growing disapproval of Putin’s actions.

“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people,” he said. “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.”

Despite his criticism, Trump has long argued that Russia is more open to peace talks than Ukraine. Last week, the US president announced that he and Putin had spoken by phone and that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” begin, a claim that remains unconfirmed by either government.

While Russian and Ukrainian officials did hold indirect talks in Turkey recently, their first in over two years, the Kremlin said Thursday that no direct discussions are scheduled.

The European Union responded to Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire by imposing new sanctions on Russia earlier this month. Trump, for his part, has threatened further economic measures against Moscow but has yet to follow through.