Trump says Putin is "playing with fire"

US President Donald Trump has stated that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is "playing with fire".

The US president criticised Putin and said that "if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia".

 "And I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!" Trump noted on his social media platform Truth Social.

In recent days, Russia has launched large-scale strikes on Ukraine. On 25 May, Trump stated that he was considering the introduction of additional sanctions against Russia.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions against Russia this week, though no final decision has been made.

Media reports also suggested that Trump is "seriously considering" lifting all restrictions on Ukraine’s military actions that were introduced during Joe Biden’s presidency.