WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump again lashed out at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after Russia capped a three-day bombing spree with its biggest aerial attack of the more than three-year war, which the Kremlin responded to by saying its defending its "national interests."
Trump said he has so far "protected" Russia from undisclosed painful measures but hinted he was losing patience as Putin continues to ignore his push for a cease-fire.
"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!" he said in a May 27 post on Truth Social.
When asked about Trump's comments during a news conference in Moscow on May 28, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "just like the United States, Russia has its own national interests, which are above all for us, and they are above all for our president."
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, said Trump's comments could be an indication that the US leader is "not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that more than 900 missiles were fired at Ukrainian targets over a three-day period ending early on May 26. Thirteen civilians were killed in the attacks that took place on May 25. Moscow said it had only hit military targets in Ukraine.
The attack on May 26 was the largest since Russia launched its invasion more than three years ago. It came a day after Trump posted on social media that Putin was "absolutely crazy."
Russian authorities said late on May 27 that Ukraine launched a large drone attack on Russia. The country's air defenses destroyed or intercepted 112 Ukrainian drones in the attack, the authorities said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the drone attack occurred between 9 p.m. and midnight Moscow time and resulted in restrictions at the capital's Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports.
The Defense Ministry said the 112 Ukrainian drones that were "destroyed and intercepted" flew over six different regions.
Some 59 drones targeted the southwestern region of Bryansk, the ministry said. Others were fired at the Kursk, Belgorod, Tula, Oryol, and Kaluga regions.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones heading for the Russian capital had been shot down.
Prior to Russia's three-day attack, the Group of Seven (G7) as well as US Congress pushed the administration to impose sanctions on Russia for blocking Trump's call for an immediate 30-day cease-fire.
Congress, which is controlled by Trump's Republican party, has yet to bring the latest Russia sanctions bill to the floor for a vote.
When asked last week why he doesn't impose sanctions on Russia after Putin again rejected his call for a cease-fire, Trump said it would push the Kremlin leader away at a time when he felt he was making progress.
John Herbst, former US ambassador to Ukraine, said in an article published by a Washington think tank that Putin "reads Trump, like other Western leaders since Russia's 2008 war in Georgia, as unwilling to take strong action against aggression."
Herbst noted in the article published by the Atlantic Council that Trump's criticism of Russia's recent strikes on Ukrainian cities and Kremlin nay-saying in the peace talks has not led to new sanctions. But he added that momentum is building in the Senate to vote on a sanctions bill that has broad bipartisan support.
Sergei Zhuk, a professor at Ball State University focusing on Russia and Ukraine, said he does not expect Trump's comments on social media to lead to action.
"It will remain on this level of social media criticism and that is it," Zhuk, who is also a fellow at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center, told RFE/RL. "Putin realizes that the new American administration will not react actively against these attacks."
White House special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told Fox News that the Trump administration should "continually apply some type of pressure to the Russians to get them to the table."
Kellogg added that Trump must "keep at it" even through the peace process has been frustrating. He said he has received Ukraine's demands for a peace agreement and is waiting for a similar one from Russia.
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top foreign policy priority since taking office more than four months ago. In March he called on both sides to immediately agree to a 30-day cease-fire.
Zelenskyy backed Trump's proposal but Putin has refused, demanding Kyiv first agree to certain conditions, including withdrawing troops from its own territory, a clear red line for Ukraine.
Experts have said that Putin is not interested in ending the war now because he believes he is winning and has yet to achieve any of his major war aims.
