Kremlin responds to Trump’s ‘playing with fire’ warning, says Putin prioritises national interests | World News

The Kremlin responded on Wednesday to US President Donald Trump’s warning that Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” refusing to engage in ceasefire talks with Kyiv, asserting that national interests remain paramount for the Russian leader.
Trump, who has pledged to end the Ukraine conflict swiftly after his re-election, appeared to toughen his stance on Moscow this week. In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened in Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire.”ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO
The remarks came as Russia launched some of the deadliest missile and drone strikes at Ukraine. Moscow claimed to have intercepted over 100 Ukrainian drones overnight, including several aimed at the capital.
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Air traffic was temporarily halted at Moscow airports and in several other cities as a precaution, according to Russian authorities.
Asked to respond, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It is clear the Trump adminration is making considerable efforts towards a peaceful settlement, and Russia was grateful for the mediation efforts of President Trump personally,” news agency Reuters reported
However, Peskov added: “Just like the United States, Russia has its own national interests, which are above all for us, and they are above all for our president. Therefore, we are also engaged in intense work, we are preparing for the next round of negotiations with the Ukrainian side, and we will continue our contacts with the Americans.”
Peskov also noted that while Russia welcomed mediation, “there are still a lot of nuances” to work through before a peace deal could be achieved.Story continues below this ad
Meanwhile, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov questioned Trump’s grasp of the conflict. “We come to the conclusion that Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov added, “In particular, he is not informed about the increased frequency of massive terror attacks carried out Ukraine against peaceful” [regions, he appeared to imply before the quote was truncated].
Ukraine pushes back
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is currently in Berlin for an “emergency meeting” with German leader, Friedrich Merz, said Wednesday that Russia has amassed 50,000 of its troops in the Sumy region before a planned large-scale offensive.
Zelenskyy said Russia’s “largest and strongest forces are right now at the Kursk front in order to push our troops out of the Kursk region and to prepare ofthat fensives against the Sumy region”.Story continues below this ad
However, he added Kyiv had undertaken steps to prevent Moscow from carrying out wide-scale attacks in the area that borders the Russian oblast of Kursk, and in the past two days, Ukrainian forces have pushed Russian troops back approximately 4km, marking a rare counter-advance amid ongoing pressure from Moscow near the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region. The gains come after Russia recently captured four border villages and had been steadily advancing in the area for weeks.