Kremlin on Trump's 'playing with fire' comments: Putin puts national interests first

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin, commenting on remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin was "playing with fire" by refusing to engage in ceasefire talks with Kyiv, said on Wednesday that national interests were paramount to the Russian leader.

Trump, who vowed to swiftly end the conflict in Ukraine, has backpedalled on a rapprochement with Moscow and lashed out at Putin in a Truth Social post this week.

"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," Trump wrote on Tuesday.

Trump made his remarks as Russia hit Ukraine with some of the deadliest drone and missile attacks of the three-year-old war. Russian officials said air defences had destroyed or intercepted well over 100 Ukrainian drones overnight on Wednesday, including a swarm headed for Moscow.

Asked about Trump's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was clear the Trump administration is making "considerable efforts towards a peaceful settlement" and that Russia was "grateful for the mediation efforts of President Trump personally."

But Peskov said there were still "a lot of nuances" that needed to be worked through before a peace deal could be reached.

"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 told reporters in a daily briefing.

Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide, told a state TV reporter that Trump's "playing with fire" comment suggested that he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war.

"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 on Wednesday.

"In particular, he is not informed about the increased frequency of massive terrorist attacks carried out by Ukraine against peaceful Russian cities. Trump only knows what retaliatory measures we are taking."

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Alison Williams and Ros Russell)

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