US President Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin “crazy” after Moscow launched a deadly barrage of drones against Ukraine, as the warring countries announced a large-scale prisoner exchange.
At least 13 people were killed when Russia launched a record number of drones against Ukraine overnight into Sunday.
“I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely crazy,” Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“I've always said that he wants all of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia.”
His comments were a rare rebuke to Mr Putin, who he often speaks of with admiration. The US leader has, however, expressed increasing frustration with Moscow's position in deadlocked truce negotiations with Kyiv.
The Kremlin, asked about Mr Trump's remarks, suggested he and others might be “emotionally overloaded”.
“This is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Trump told reporters that he was “not happy” about the latest attack on Ukraine and that he was “absolutely” considering increasing sanctions on Moscow.
“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,” he said.
Ukraine's emergency services described on Sunday an atmosphere of “terror” in the country after a second night of Russian air strikes, including on the capital Kyiv.
Those killed in the latest Russian strikes included victims aged eight, 12 and 17 in the north-western region of Zhytomyr, officials said.
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
“The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin,” he said. “Sanctions will certainly help.”
In his social media post, Mr Trump also criticised Mr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of his ire, accusing him of “doing his country no favours by talking the way he does”.
“Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don't like it, and it better stop,” he said.
The EU's foreign affairs minister, Kaja Kallas, also called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war”.
“Last night's attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine,” she said on social media.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also denounced the attacks.
“Putin does not want peace, he wants to carry on the war and we shouldn't allow him to do this,” he said. “For this reason we will approve further sanctions at a European level.”
Ukraine's military said on Sunday it had shot down a total of 45 Russian missiles and 266 attack drones overnight. Air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said 298 drones were launched, adding that this was “the highest number ever”.
Four people were reported killed in Ukraine's western Khmelnytskyi region, and four in the Kyiv region. Two people were killed in the southern Mykolaiv region.
Russia said its strikes were aimed at Ukraine's military-industrial complex and that it had brought down 110 Ukrainian drones.
The strikes on Ukraine came as Russia said it had exchanged another 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv – the last phase of a swap agreed on during talks in Istanbul on May 16.
It was their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners in total sent back by each side. Mr Zelenskyy confirmed the swap was complete.
