Putin calls to put the West in a “chokehold” amid tensions with Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin said it’s time to squeeze the West, accusing them of trying to choke Russia and calling for a response in kind.
“They’re trying to strangle us and we should reciprocate,” he said, according to RT. The remark came just hours after US President Donald Trump publicly called him “absolutely crazy” following Russia’s deadliest aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
The attack took place between Saturday night and early Sunday. 367 drones and missiles were launched by Russia across Ukrainian cities, killing 13 people and injuring dozens.
Then, from Sunday night to Monday morning, Russia pushed again—this time with 355 drones, killing 10 more civilians, in what Ukraine’s air force said was the largest drone-only assault since the war began.
Trump fumes, Kremlin fires back
Trump responded on Truth Social, writing, “Something has happened to Putin. He has gone absolutely crazy. Needlessly killing a lot of people.” The post dropped just hours after images circulated of destroyed residential areas in multiple Ukrainian cities.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said Trump’s statement wasn’t based on strategy but “emotional overload of everyone involved.” He didn’t deny the attacks, though. Instead, Peskov said Russia’s strikes were a “response” to Ukraine hitting targets in Russian civilian areas, what he called “social infrastructure.” No further details were given on what infrastructure was hit or where.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that there was “no military sense” to Russia’s aerial campaign. “It’s an obvious political choice… by Putin, a choice by Russia… to continue the war and destroy lives,” he added in a recorded address.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its air defense forces also shot down 20 Ukrainian drones over many regions inside Russia, but they didn’t list any specific cities.
Berlin clears the path, Taurus in play
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined the story shortly after the weekend attacks, stating that Ukraine now has “no longer” any range limits on how it uses Western weapons. That change means Ukraine can strike Russian military targets inside Russia with the weapons they already have.
Merz said, “This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia… with very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until recently. It can now do that.”
This comes as speculation grows that Germany may approve the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv—something that previous Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. The Taurus has a range of around 500km, which gives Ukraine far more striking capability than before.
When asked if Merz’s comments meant Germany would finally send the Taurus, the BBC said the Chancellery did not respond. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Zelensky is expected to be in Berlin on Wednesday, though that visit hasn’t been officially confirmed.
Other countries have already eased restrictions. The UK said last year that Ukraine could decide how to use British weapons. In November, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use long-range US-supplied missiles against targets in Russia—though with specific limitations.
Russia warned that giving Ukraine the Taurus would be “a dangerous move.” It didn’t say what kind of response would follow, but the message was clear. As Kyiv’s partners in Europe plan more sanctions, Washington is still pushing for talks—while saying that if there’s no real progress, they might “walk away.”
Peskov said Russia was “truly grateful to the Americans and personally to President Trump” for helping organize the latest peace discussions. Last week, Trump and Putin held a two-hour phone call to talk about a possible ceasefire deal. Trump said the call “went very well,” and added that both sides would “immediately start” working on a ceasefire and a path toward “an end to the war.”
Zelensky agreed publicly to a 30-day ceasefire. Putin didn’t. Instead, he said Russia would begin work on a “memorandum” outlining a “possible future peace.” Kyiv and its allies said that was just more stalling.
The first official talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators since 2022 were held on May 16 in Istanbul. But other than a large prisoner swap last week, nothing significant has come out of them. Russia still occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed back in 2014.
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Putin calls to put the West in a “chokehold” amid tensions with Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin said it’s time to squeeze the West, accusing them of trying to choke Russia and calling for a response in kind.
“They’re trying to strangle us and we should reciprocate,” he said, according to RT. The remark came just hours after US President Donald Trump publicly called him “absolutely crazy” following Russia’s deadliest aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
The attack took place between Saturday night and early Sunday. 367 drones and missiles were launched by Russia across Ukrainian cities, killing 13 people and injuring dozens.
Then, from Sunday night to Monday morning, Russia pushed again—this time with 355 drones, killing 10 more civilians, in what Ukraine’s air force said was the largest drone-only assault since the war began.
Trump fumes, Kremlin fires back
Trump responded on Truth Social, writing, “Something has happened to Putin. He has gone absolutely crazy. Needlessly killing a lot of people.” The post dropped just hours after images circulated of destroyed residential areas in multiple Ukrainian cities.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said Trump’s statement wasn’t based on strategy but “emotional overload of everyone involved.” He didn’t deny the attacks, though. Instead, Peskov said Russia’s strikes were a “response” to Ukraine hitting targets in Russian civilian areas, what he called “social infrastructure.” No further details were given on what infrastructure was hit or where.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that there was “no military sense” to Russia’s aerial campaign. “It’s an obvious political choice… by Putin, a choice by Russia… to continue the war and destroy lives,” he added in a recorded address.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its air defense forces also shot down 20 Ukrainian drones over many regions inside Russia, but they didn’t list any specific cities.
Berlin clears the path, Taurus in play
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined the story shortly after the weekend attacks, stating that Ukraine now has “no longer” any range limits on how it uses Western weapons. That change means Ukraine can strike Russian military targets inside Russia with the weapons they already have.
Merz said, “This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia… with very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until recently. It can now do that.”
This comes as speculation grows that Germany may approve the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv—something that previous Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. The Taurus has a range of around 500km, which gives Ukraine far more striking capability than before.
When asked if Merz’s comments meant Germany would finally send the Taurus, the BBC said the Chancellery did not respond. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Zelensky is expected to be in Berlin on Wednesday, though that visit hasn’t been officially confirmed.
Other countries have already eased restrictions. The UK said last year that Ukraine could decide how to use British weapons. In November, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use long-range US-supplied missiles against targets in Russia—though with specific limitations.
Russia warned that giving Ukraine the Taurus would be “a dangerous move.” It didn’t say what kind of response would follow, but the message was clear. As Kyiv’s partners in Europe plan more sanctions, Washington is still pushing for talks—while saying that if there’s no real progress, they might “walk away.”
Peskov said Russia was “truly grateful to the Americans and personally to President Trump” for helping organize the latest peace discussions. Last week, Trump and Putin held a two-hour phone call to talk about a possible ceasefire deal. Trump said the call “went very well,” and added that both sides would “immediately start” working on a ceasefire and a path toward “an end to the war.”
Zelensky agreed publicly to a 30-day ceasefire. Putin didn’t. Instead, he said Russia would begin work on a “memorandum” outlining a “possible future peace.” Kyiv and its allies said that was just more stalling.
The first official talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators since 2022 were held on May 16 in Istanbul. But other than a large prisoner swap last week, nothing significant has come out of them. Russia still occupies about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed back in 2014.
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