Trump fires ominous six-word warning shot to 'disrespectful' Putin as row rages on

Donald Trump issued an ominous warning to his Russian counterpart. (Image: Sky News)

Donald Trump issued an ominous warning to Vladimir Putin after accusing him of deliberately drawing out the fragile peace process in Ukraine. The US president was asked whether he thought it was "disrespectful" of his Russian counterpart to accuse him of being overly emotional. A reporter questioned: "Do you believe the Russians are being disrespectful when they say that your criticisms of Putin are simply an emotional response? And do you still believe that Putin actually wants to end the war?

Mr Trump responded: "I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks. Within two weeks - we're going to find out very soon. We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not." The Republican then added a vague six-word caution, saying if Putin was, "we'll respond a little bit differently".

Putin has been accused of deliberately drawing out the peace process in Ukraine. (Image: Getty)

The US president then praised special envoy Steve Witkoff for doing a "phenomenal job dealing with them very strongly right now".

He added: "They seem to want to do something, but until the document is signed, I can't tell you. Nobody can. I can say this ... I'm very disappointed at what happened.

"Couple of nights now where people were killed in the middle of what you would call a negotiation. I'm very disappointed by that."

This comes after Mr Trump called putin "absolutely crazy" over his military's actions in Ukraine after nights of heavy bombardment.

He wrote on his platform, Truth Social: "I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers.

"Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. 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!"

The Kremlin responded by ridiculing him for experiencing an "emotional overload". Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "These statements are linked to emotional overload. This is a decisive moment, and emotions are running high."

The war of wars was sparked by Russia launching the biggest drone assault of the war, firing 355 drones on Sunday night, according to Ukrainian officials.

That strike followed a previous wave involving 298 drones and 69 missiles, making it the most intense phase of Moscow’s aerial campaign since the full-scale invasion began more than three years ago.