Russia Ukraine war latest: Trump warns Putin he is ‘playing with fire’ after largest drone attack since war began – UK Times

Russian air defence systems had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, its defence ministry said.

Officials said these drones were downed over the Moscow region as well as the Bryansk, Belgorod, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver and Tula regions.

In the previous week, a total of 2331 drones had been downed by Russian forces, including 1465 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the country’s defence ministry said.

Amid several rounds of failed talks for ceasefire, the war is intensifying as swarms of drones are being launched by both sides while fierce fighting is underway along key parts of the front.

US president Donald Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg has scolded a top Russian official for stoking fears of a Third World War.

Mr Trump took to Truth Social and said Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” and cautioned that “REALLY BAD” things would have happened already to Russia if it was not for Mr Trump himself.

“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realise is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened in Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday.

Responding to Mr Trump, top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said: “Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing – WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!” Mr Medvedev wrote in a post on X.

US envoy Keith Kellogg quoted Mr Medvedev’s post and called it reckless.

“Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment… and unfitting of a world power,” Mr Kellogg said on X.

“President Trump @POTUS is working to stop this war and end the killing. We await receipt of RU Memorandum (Term Sheet) that you promised a week ago. Cease fire now,” he said.

As Washington settled in for a typically sleepy Memorial Day following the passage of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the House, the president fired off one of his trademark furious rants on Truth Social, but the target was a surprise.

This time, the target wasn’t any of his domestic political foes — like the Democrats who voted in lockstep against the budget package he endorsed, or the handful of Republicans who refused to fall into line. It wasn’t even aimed at the various law enforcement figures who have attempted to hold him to account over the years.

Sunday evening’s rant was aimed squarely at Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite what he called a “very good relationship” with Putin, Trump in his latest statement on the Ukraine-Russia war blasted the Russian leader as “absolutely crazy.”

US president Donald Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg has scolded a top Russian official for stoking fears of a Third World War.

Mr Trump took to Truth Social and said Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” and cautioned that “REALLY BAD” things would have happened already to Russia if it was not for Mr Trump himself.

“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realise is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened in Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday.

Responding to Mr Trump, top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said: “Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing – WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!” Mr Medvedev wrote in a post on X.

US envoy Keith Kellogg quoted Mr Medvedev’s post and called it reckless.

“Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment… and unfitting of a world power,” Mr Kellogg said on X.

“President Trump @POTUS is working to stop this war and end the killing. We await receipt of RU Memorandum (Term Sheet) that you promised a week ago. Cease fire now,” he said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to arrive in Berlin today for talks with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

According to a statement, Mr Merz will receive Mr Zelensky with military honours at the Federal Chancellery at noon (10am GMT).

The newly-inducted German chancellor has ramped up the country’s efforts to help Ukraine fight back against Russian aggression, aligning his efforts with those of the British and the French governments.

On Monday, Mr Merz said his country and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.

It was unclear whether this represented a change in policy.

Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States since the full-scale war began in February 2022.

Russia should focus less on president Donald Trump’s social media posts and more on ending its war against Ukraine, US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said last night.

“If the Russians cared about the nature of how [peace efforts are] proceeding, they would be thinking less about [the president’s statements] and more about what they could do – which is in their hands – to stop the carnage and the slaughter that’s happening right now,” Ms Bruce said in a press briefing.

The remarks from the US state department come shortly after the Kremlin blamed Mr Trump’s recent remarks on Vladimir Putin on “emotional overload”.

Mr Trump said the Russian president had gone “absolutely crazy” after the weekend bombardment of Ukraine that killed at least 12 people.

“We can see from the information obtained by intelligence and from open-source data that Vladimir Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address on Monday.

“There is currently no indication that they are seriously considering peace or diplomacy. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that they are preparing new offensive operations.”

Russian troops have increased their attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region in recent weeks, targeting an area 30 miles long between the two cities of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, analysts tracking the front line have told The Independent.

Russian bots are piling on president Donald Trump, and calling him a “clown,” after he publicly criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

The pro-government accounts have accused Trump of having dementia, Newsweek reported, citing investigative Russian news outlet Agentstvo.

The war in Ukraine is expected to persist due to Russia’s reluctance to enter negotiations, Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

“Wars typically end because of economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides and in this war we are obviously still far from reaching that (situation)”, Mr Merz said at a joint press conference with Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo in Turku.

“So we may have to prepare for a longer duration,” Mr Merz added.

The U.S. president also suggested Russia has avoided “really bad things” — thanks to him.

“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.

“He’s playing with fire!”