Moscow has responded Monday to President Trump's latest fierce criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, cautioning of "emotional overload" at this "very important moment."
"We are really grateful to the Americans and to President Trump personally for their assistance in organizing and launching this negotiation process," began Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov when asked about Trump’s late Sunday remarks.
"Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions," Peskov said. Other translations used "emotional overstrain".
There's been a noticeable frustration and impatience coming from the White House at the lack of progress toward peace. At first more of the pressure seemed to be on Zelensky and the Ukrainian side, but recent weeks have seem Trump's rhetoric shift to more pressure on Putin and the Kremlin.
"I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.
The below full statement is mainly aimed at Putin, but Trump has notably taken swipes at both sides over the weekend, as pointed out by the WSJ correspondent...
"I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever."
Earlier on Sunday President Trump had told reporters aboard Air Force One that he is not "happy" with the Russian leader. "I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin," Trump said.
Russia has clearly ramped up attacks over prior consecutive nights. Last night it hit Ukraine with another record number of drones along with nine cruise missiles, according to The Associated Press. However, no deaths were immediately confirmed and an emergency response continued in Monday.
But Trump had caveated in his remarks Sunday, "Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does."
We detailed previously how Russia's current stepped-up attacks are the result of drone waves from Ukraine which are unprecedented in size and intensity over the past week:
All of this is likely calculated to press the Kremlin to get serious about negotiations. But as Trump has long admitted, Putin holds all the cards, and more villages in the Donbass were taken by Russian forces this weekend.
As for what "happened" to Putin... the reality is that nothing has changed, and like it or not this is how powerful world leaders wage war in the 21st century.