Trump says Putin has 'gone absolutely CRAZY,' considering more sanctions on Russia

By Jeff Mason, Guy Faulconbridge and Tom Balmforth

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had "gone absolutely CRAZY" by unleashing a massive aerial attack on Ukraine and said he was weighing new sanctions on Moscow, though he also scolded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Trump posted the remark on social media as sleeping Ukrainians woke to a third consecutive night of huge Russian aerial attacks, listening for hours to drones buzzing near their homes and eruptions of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.

"Something has happened to him (Putin). He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" Trump said of the Russian president on Truth Social.

"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!"

Trump also criticised Zelenskiy, posting that the Ukrainian leader "is 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."

The Kremlin, asked about Trump's remark about Putin being "crazy," thanked the U.S. people and Trump for their assistance in launching peace negotiations but suggested Trump 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.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, did not directly address Trump's criticism. He said the repeated barrage of Russian attacks reflected Putin's "political choice" and proved the Kremlin was not interested in ending the war.

"There is no military sense in this, but it is an obvious political choice - a choice by Putin, a choice by Russia - a choice to continue the war and destroy lives," he said.

Zelenskiy said the attacks - more than 900 drones as well as missiles over three nights - showed that Russia was "playing with diplomacy." Russia, he said, "deserves full-scale pressure, everything that can be done to limit their military capability."

Swarms of drones are being launched by both sides while fierce fighting is under way along key parts of the front.

The Ukrainian Air Force said the most recent overnight Russian attack hit targets in five locations, but did not elaborate, implying military damage.

The western region of Khmelnytskyi, which is home to a military air base, was targeted by seven cruise missiles and scores of drones, and residential buildings and industrial facilities sustained damage, officials said. A 14-year-old boy was reported injured in the Black Sea region of Odesa.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its strike hit targets at Ukraine's Starokostiantyniv air base in Khmelnytskyi region. The Kremlin said the attacks were directed at military targets and that the strikes were a response to significant Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets.

'I'M NOT HAPPY'

Speaking to reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, Trump said of Putin: "I don't know what's wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He's killing a lot of people. I'm not happy about that."

He raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.

In the biggest aerial assault of the war, Russia pummelled Ukrainian cities and other targets with at least 367 drones and missiles the previous night into Sunday, killing at least 12 people, including three children in the northern region of Zhytomyr, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russian attack was the largest of the war in terms of weapons fired, although other strikes have killed more people.

Ukraine has also attacked Russia with drones, including some aimed at Moscow that briefly closed the city's airports.

Trump has been pressuring Russia and Ukraine to end the more than three-year war, but the two sides remain far apart - and while major powers talk, the war is intensifying and Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine.

European leaders have been disappointed by their inability so far to win over the U.S. leader to their cause in the war started by Russia, and to convince him to cross the threshold of imposing major new sanctions.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped that Trump's ire towards Putin would now result in new sanctions that could dissuade the Russian leader from acting further.

The Kremlin says it is conducting what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine to protect Russia from NATO encroachment on its borders. Ukraine says Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, Tom Balmforth and Yulia Dysa in Kyiv and Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Morristown, New Jersey; Editing by Toby Chopra, Gareth Jones, Aidan Lewis, Ron Popeski and Rod Nickel)