Kremlin says Trump's 'absolutely crazy' jab at Putin was 'emotional overload'

But the Russian leader went ahead with a third day of attacks across Ukraine last night,including Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump’s remarks this morning: ‘…this is a very important moment which is connected to an emotional overload of everyone involved and emotional reactions.’

Trump wrote afterwards: ‘He is needlessly killing a lot of people… 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!’

NATO aircraft were flown from Poland as a defensive measure amid the heavy strikes by Putin.

‘Due to the attack by the Russian Federation,which is carrying out strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine,Polish and allied aviation have begun operating in our airspace,’ said a statement from the armed forces command.

Trump went on to threaten Russia with more sanctions if Putin continues to go against his calls for a peace deal.

Trump spoke to journalists about Putin before boarding Air Force One (Picture: AFP or licensors)

Burning homes in Kyiv,Ukraine,on Saturday night after Russia launched major strikes across the country

(Picture: Ukrainian State Emergency Service Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock)

Emergency workers work at the site where homes were destroyed in a Russian rocket strike on Saturday night (Picture: Reuters)

Trump has repeatedly pushed for a ceasefire between the two nations and spoke to Putin on the phone for two hours last week.

Writing on Truth Social,Trump also criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He said the Ukrainian president was ‘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 large-scale Russian attacks come after Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange – the first phase of a ‘1,000-for-1,000’ swap that was agreed on by the two sides at a meeting in Istanbul last week. 

Trump said he wasn’t happy with Putin (Picture: AP)

The Institute for the Study of War believes Putin’s relentless attacks are aimed at hitting morale in Ukraine but also undermining Western confidence in Kyiv’s ability to resist the Russians.

‘Russian President Vladimir Putin is leveraging long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities,aggressive rhetorical campaigns,and excessive pessimism in the West about the battlefield situation in Ukraine in a multi-pronged effort to degrade Ukrainian morale and convince the West that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable and that supporting Ukraine is futile,’ said the USW.

Yet,‘the battlefield situation has shifted dramatically since early 2022,and three years of manpower and material losses have significantly degraded the Russian military’s ability to conquer Ukraine.

‘Russian advances have significantly slowed as Russian forces continue to suffer personnel losses and increasingly rely on poorly trained and equipped infantry to make gains.’