'He’s playing with fire': Trump warns Putin over stalled Ukraine peace talks

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a dramatic warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserting that if it weren’t for his own actions, Russia would be in a far worse position amid its ongoing war with Ukraine.

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. He’s playing with fire!

Earlier in the day, Kremlin said its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a "response" to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to "disrupt" peace efforts.

Moscow, which has repeatedly rejected proposals from Kyiv and its Western allies for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country's air defences.

The Republican billionaire, who returned to office in January vowing to end the war "in 24 hours," has long appeared to side with his Russian counterpart, frequently speaking of him with gushing admiration.

Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile has been a frequent target of Trump's ire, as seen with the spectacular dressing down of the Ukrainian leader in a tense Oval Office meeting in March.

But the US president has in recent weeks shown growing frustration with Putin's position in deadlocked truce negotiations with Kyiv.

And in statements made on Sunday, Trump, who is facing increasing calls from Republican lawmakers to take a tougher stance against Putin, seemed to change his tone.

After Moscow unleashed a particularly deadly barrage of drones against its western neighbor, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he believed Putin "wants ALL of Ukraine".

Pursuing such a goal, he warned in a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, "will lead to the downfall of Russia!"

"I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"

There was little sign his criticism made an impact, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting Monday the "very critical moment" was fraught with "emotional reactions".

And following Trump's outburst, Moscow fired 355 drones at Ukraine overnight in the biggest such attack since Moscow's 2022 invasion, according to Kyiv, a day after Russian strikes killed 13 people.

Russia's weekend onslaught came as diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war stepped up, with a prisoner exchange and direct talks between the two sides.