Trump says Putin ‘playing with fire’, prompting ‘WWIII’ warning from Moscow

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” by refusing to engage in ceasefire talks with Kyiv as Moscow’s forces made gains in Ukraine’s north-east.

With his frustration increasing, Trump has lashed out at Putin as Russia hits Ukraine with some of the three-year-old war’s deadliest drone and missile attacks while not moving forward on ceasefire efforts.

Donald Trump warned of “really bad things” for Russia.Credit: AP

“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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday (AEST).

The president, who prides himself on having friendly relations with Putin, did not elaborate.

Top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump’s criticism.

“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!” Medvedev wrote in English on the social media platform X.

Trump in a post on Sunday said Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing a massive aerial attack on Ukraine.

Putin said after a two-hour call with Trump last week that Russia was ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum about a future peace accord.

The Russian leader said part of this work would be defining a possible ceasefire, including its timeframe. Ukraine, its European allies and the US have all urged Putin to accept an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.

The Kremlin has said it could not estimate how long drafting the memorandum would take, and it said on Tuesday it was still working on it. Kyiv and European governments have accused Moscow of stalling while it advances on the battlefield.

Trump’s social media blast came as Kyiv suffered another battlefield setback with Russian forces capturing four villages in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region.

Trump has so far held off on major new sanctions against Russia, though US officials say a package of sanctions has been prepared should he decide to do so.

Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump’s criticism.Credit: AP

But Republicans are putting increasing pressure on Trump to take advantage of a struggling Russian economy by imposing stronger sanctions that would bring Moscow to its knees and force Putin to negotiate.

Trump is also under pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to increase military assistance to Ukraine.

The Russian advances follow some of the biggest drone and missile attacks on Ukraine since Russia began the full-scale war in early 2022, although the level dropped markedly overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

Ukraine has also fired dozens of long-range drones into Russia in recent days, forcing some Moscow airports to close temporarily.

Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Facebook that the villages of Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka had been occupied by Russia, although residents had long ago been evacuated.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday it had taken the nearby village of Bilovody, implying a further advance in the war.

Ukrainian officials have said for weeks that Russian troops are trying to make inroads into the Sumy region, the main city of which, Sumy, lies less than 30 kilometres from the border.

Russian forces, attacking in small groups on motorcycles and supported by drones, have been widening the area where they have been carrying out assaults, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s border guard service said.

Ukrainian forces used the Sumy region as a launch pad to seize a chunk of Russia’s neighbouring Kursk region last year before being largely driven out by April. The area has been pounded for months by Russian guided bomb attacks and other strikes.

Firefighters extinguish a fire following Russia’s air raid in the village of Bilopillya in the Sumy region, Ukraine, on May 14.Credit: AP

“The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called ‘buffer zone’,” Hryhorov wrote on Facebook.

During a trip to the Kursk region in March, Putin repeated a call for his military to consider establishing a “buffer zone” along Russia’s border.

Though Russia’s offensive activity is concentrated in the eastern Donetsk region, Moscow’s inroads into north-eastern Ukraine show how it is stretching Kyiv’s forces on multiple fronts.

Zelensky has repeatedly warned that Russia was preparing new offensives against Sumy and the north-eastern Kharkiv and south-eastern Zaporizhzhia regions.

Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff General Valery Gerasimov while visiting military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia.Credit: Russian Presidential Press Service via AP

“There is much evidence that they are preparing new offensive operations. Russia is counting on further war,” he said on Monday, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Russian officials on Wednesday said its air defences had destroyed or intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones over a three-hour period, including a swarm headed for Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, in a series of notices posted in rapid succession on Telegram, listed 12 drones he said had been intercepted while heading for the Russian capital.

Reuters

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