Trump Slams Putin Over Deadly Attacks on Ukrainian Cities

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his disapproval of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's actions, particularly Russian missile attacks on Ukraine.

Trump made the remarks to reporters at Morristown, New Jersey, before he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington, D.C., reports Newsweek, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"I'm not happy with what Putin is doing," the president said. "He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all."

"We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all," he added.

"I don't like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit. He's killing people. Something happened to this guy, and I don't like it," Trump said.

When asked if he had any comment on reports that Putin was almost caught in the middle of a drone attack from Ukraine, Trump suggested "maybe that would be a reason" for Putin's supposed change of character, but stressed "I don't know. I have not heard that."

Later, when asked a follow-up about talks with Putin, Trump said he would "absolutely" consider applying tariffs against Russia to force progress in peace talks, again saying, "He's killing a lot of people, I don't know what's wrong with him. What the hell happened to him, right? He's killing a lot of people, I'm not happy with that."

On the night of May 14-15, a massive Russian missile and drone attack killed 12 people in Ukraine and injured over 60 others. Among the victims were three children from the same family in the Zhytomyr region.

Russia targeted Kyiv and other cities with 367 missiles and drones. Ukrainian air defense forces downed 45 cruise missiles and neutralized 266 drones.

Meanwhile, Russian state media claimed that Putin's helicopter was allegedly caught in the epicenter of a drone attack in the Kursk region.