Trump Shooting Attempt Suspect Supports Ukraine, Kremlin: Playing With Fire Has Consequences

The arrest of the perpetrator of the shooting attempt against Donald Trump in Florida. (Wikimedia Commons/Martin County Sheriff's Office)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin said on Monday that Ukraine's links to suspected shooters in an attempted shooting of former US President Donald Trump showed "playing a fire" had consequences.

The statement clearly refers to the United States' support for Ukraine for Russia. Washington has sent tens of billions of US dollars in military aid to Kyiv in an effort to help Ukrainian forces defeat Russia.

When asked about what the FBI called an assassination attempt on Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

"It's not us who should think, but US intelligence agencies who should think. After all, playing with fire has consequences," Peskov said.

When asked if the assassination attempt was at risk of destabilizing the United States, Peskov said it was not Russia's business, even though Russia was monitoring the situation.

"We saw how tense the situation there was, including among political competitors," Peskov said.

"Political struggles are increasing, and various methods are being used," he continued.

As previously reported, Trump survived after being the target of what the FBI said "appears to be an attempted murder" at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday local time.

A US Secret Service agent placed in several holes from where Trump played saw AK-type riflenoses sticking out of the bushes lined up along the pitch, about 400 yards away.

An agent opened fire and the gunman dropped his rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm along with two backpacks, binoculars used to target, and a GoPro camera, said Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Later, the man was arrested by security forces.

CNN, Fox News and the New York Times identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh (58) from Hawaii, citing an unnamed law enforcement official.

Three social media accounts that list Routh's name show he is a loyal supporter of Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

The New York Times reported that it had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans volunteering to help Ukraine's war efforts.

Routh told the Times he had traveled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022, trying to recruit Afghan soldiers fleeing the Taliban to fight in Ukraine.

Trump himself has been said to have stopped military aid for Ukraine several times if he wins elections in November.

Most recently, in a campaign in Detroit last Junu, Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him "the greatest seller of all time" at Kyiv's push to gain US support in his efforts to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression more than three years after Moscow's completely invasion.

"He just left four days ago with 60 billion US dollars, and he's home, and he announced he needed another 60 billion US dollars. It never ends," Trump said, quoted by Politico.

"I will finish it before occupying the White House as president-elect," Trump added.