President Trump Calls President Putin "Playing Fire"

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "playing in flames" by refusing to engage in ceasefire negotiations with Kyiv, as Russian troops profit in northeastern Ukraine.

With his growing frustration, President Trump has attacked Russian President as Moscow attacked Ukraine with several of the deadliest drone and missile attacks in the past three years of war without continuing ceasefire efforts.

"What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, a lot of very bad things would have happened in Russia, and I mean it was very bad. He was playing with fire," President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.

However, President Trump, who is proud to have a friendly relationship with President Putin, did not elaborate.

Separately, top Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump's criticism.

"Regarding Trump's words about Putin 'playing in the fire' and 'very bad things' are happening in Russia. I only know one thing that's really bad 'PD III'. I hope Trump understands this!" Medvedev wrote in English on social media platform X.

President Trump's criticism on social media on Tuesday comes as Kyiv experiences setbacks on the battlefield with Russian troops seizing four villages in the Northeastern Sumy region of Ukraine.

President Trump has so far postponed major new sanctions against Russia, although US officials say sanctions packages have been prepared if he decides to do so. President Trump has also come under pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to increase military aid to Ukraine.

Earlier, President Trump in a post on Sunday said Putin had been "completely insane" by launching a massive airstrike on Ukraine.

President Putin himself after a two-hour phone call with President Trump last week said Russia was ready to cooperate with Ukraine to create a memorandum of a peace agreement in the future.

The Russian leader said part of this work would determine the possibility of a ceasefire, including its timeframe.

As for Ukraine, its allies in Europe and the US have all urged President Putin to accept an unconditional immediate ceasefire that lasts at least 30 days.

The Kremlin said it could not estimate how long it would take to formulate the memorandum, and said on Tuesday it was still working on it. Kyiv and the European Government accuse Moscow of stalling for time as they advance on the battlefield.