Donald Trump has warned Vladimir Putin he’s “playing with fire”, while claiming he has stopped “bad things” from happening to Russia. Earlier, Russia tried to divert attention from an increase in attacks on Ukraine by accusing Europe of “sabotaging” US peace efforts.
Tuesday 27 May 2025 18:07, UK
Our defence and security analyst Michael Clarke is back to answer your Ukraine war questions at 12pm on Wednesday.
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Thanks for following our coverage today. We’re pausing our live updates for now but will be back with more soon.
Before we go, here’s a summary of the main developments today:
Trump warns Putin he’s ‘playing with fire’
As we’ve been reporting in the last hour or so, Donald Trump has been on Truth Social (again).
This time, he’s doubled down on his criticism of Vladimir Putin, which started at the weekend, when he said the Russian leader had gone “absolutely crazy” after big aerial attacks on Ukraine.
Today he warned Putin he’s “playing with fire”…
But Ukrainians might be wondering if Trump the “deal-maker” will ever back up criticism of Russia with actions – such as the new sanctions he has threatened more than once.
It all makes our defence and security analyst Michael Clarke look like he was ahead of the game – watch his comments below from earlier today, before Trump’s online post, about Russia testing the patience of the US.
A reminder, Clarke will be back to answer your questions tomorrow in our weekly Q&A on the war in Ukraine.
There’s still time to submit yours in the comments box at the top of this page.
Lavrov gifted open goal by Merz slip up
Tuesday’s other big moment was how Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov tried to spin a gaffe by Germany’s new chancellor Freidrich Merz.
Merz walked back on his comments on Monday which had suggested Western allies were lifting range restrictions for weapons supplied to Ukraine.
Friedrich Merz admitted he was talking about something that has been in place for a while, adding that the countries that imposed the restrictions “have long since given up these conditions”.
That led Lavrov to hit out at European leaders, saying the move illustrates the level of competency of those who have risen to power in Europe.
Ivor Bennett, our Moscow correspondent, said that reference to competency was Lavrov scolding and schooling Merz – and warning the German after his 22 days in the job versus his 22 years that he has a “lot to learn”.
Read Bennett’s full analysis of how Lavrov used Merz’s error as ammunition in the war of words.
Meanwhile, there were also reports from Russia’s Interfax news agency that it had started “major” naval drills in the Baltic Sea.
While details still remain unclear, the reports suggested that the drills involved 20 warships, 3,000 troops and air support.
Donald Trump’s warning for Vladimir Putin – see the post below – comes after a noticeable shift in tone from the US president.
Just on Sunday, he said he is “not happy” with what Putin is doing – “killing a lot of people”.
“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” he said.
“I’ve known him a long time. I’ve always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it.”
He also said he’s “absolutely” considering sanctions on Russia.
Catch up in the video below…
Donald Trump has doubled down on his recent criticism of Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian president is “playing with fire”.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said “what Vladimir Putin doesn’t realise is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD”.
Over the weekend, Trump said Putin had “gone absolutely crazy” after unleashing aerial attacks on Ukraine, and added he was weighing up new sanctions on Moscow.
But the Kremlin accused the US president of an “emotional overload” and said whatever decisions the Russian leader makes are “necessary for the security of Russia”.
If you were following our updates last month, you’d be familiar with the reports that Washington would recognise annexed Crimea as Russian territory as part of a peace plan.
But an exiled Soviet-era dissident has told The Guardian that such a move would damage America’s reputation.
“The whole world knows what happened in Crimea,” Mustafa Dzhemilev has said.
“It would be such a damage to the reputation of the US that it will be hard for them to recover, it would be shameful.”
Dzhemilev was also highly critical of Donald Trump, and described him as “a person who feels no emotions” and “in whose head there is only deal-making”.
“To say the things he says, to say Ukraine shouldn’t have started this war, have they been keeping this man in the dark for the last years? Does he know anything? Has he read anything?”
But it wasn’t only Trump that Dzhemilev took aim at.
He recalled an interview with Steve Witkoff in which Trump’s envoy failed to remember the names of the regions he thought Russia had a reasonable claim to.
“That’s a diplomat from the United States of America? I’ve seen a lot of stupid diplomats in my life, but one like him, that’s a first,” he said.
This week on The World, former GCHQ director Sir Jeremy Fleming joins Richard and Yalda for a wide-ranging conversation, in which he reveals what he thinks will happen in the war in Ukraine.
Sir Jeremy, who held the top role for six years before leaving in 2023, also answers questions from listeners on spies, cyber wars and who might be the next James Bond.
GCHQ, short for Government Communications Headquarters, is the UK’s largest intelligence agency, focusing on counter terrorism, cyber security and international intelligence.
To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk.
Click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.
Episodes of The World With Richard Engel And Yalda Hakim will be available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.
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We can now bring you some pictures showing Russia’s “major” naval drills, which have started in the Baltic Sea.
According to the country’s Interfax news agency, the drills involve 20 warships, 3,000 troops and air support.
We’ve told you about reports of Russia starting “major” naval drills in the Baltic Sea (see 12.15 post).
But before that news was reported by the Interfax news agency, Russia was highly critical of other drills taking place.
The country’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said that Finnish naval exercises were turning into an instrument of NATO escalation near the Russian border.
That exercise is taking place after Finland accused Moscow of using its military aircraft to violate Finnish airspace.
Earlier, we brought you comments from Michael Clarke suggesting Russia is sending a message to Ukraine that the war will go on (see 11.19 post), and that’s something Germany’s chancellor agrees with.
Friedrich Merz has said he anticipates a prolonged war due to Russia’s reluctance in negotiations.
“Wars typically end because of economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides and in this war we are obviously still far from reaching that,” he said in a joint news conference with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
“So we may have to prepare for a longer duration.”
An update to bring you from the battleground now, and Russian forces have captured four villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region according to the local governor.
The region was used by Ukrainian forces to seize a chunk of Russia’s Kursk region in a surprise offensive last year before being largely driven out by April.
Sumy governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote in a post “the enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called buffer zone”.
He said the villages of Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka had been occupied, and that local residents had been evacuated.
It comes as Russia continues to intensify pressure on Ukraine as it advances into the northeast of the country.
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
Russia rarely misses the chance to get one up on the West, and Friedrich Merz’s comments on long-range missiles gave them an open goal.
On Monday, the new German chancellor said that Berlin and its key allies had lifted all range restrictions on weapons sent to Ukraine, implying it was a new policy.
In reality, though, the UK, France and America made that decision months ago.
Ukraine first fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory last November, as well as French Scalps and US ATACMS.
And there’s now confusion over whether this means Germany will deliver its Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv.
Merz wouldn’t confirm.
Lavrov’s message for Merz
Poor phrasing or an innocent error – it may not seem that major, but with competing narratives, and such high stakes, words matter.
Hence why the mistake was seized upon by Russia’s veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who said the comments illustrate the competence of those who have risen to power in Europe.
It was both a scolding and a schooling from Russia’s top diplomat, who was trying to emphasise the gulf in experience and, in his opinion, expertise.
His 22 years in the job versus Merz’s 22 days. This was Lavrov telling Merz: “You have a lot to learn.”
Barrage of attacks ignored because of error
The comments also allowed him to reinforce Moscow’s narrative that Ukraine’s European allies are the aggressors, not Russia.
He claimed that Donald Trump’s criticism of Vladimir Putin was the result of peace efforts being “sabotaged” by European politicians.
In reality, it was the barrage of Russian attacks over the weekend.
But that didn’t get mentioned. Merz’s misspeak provided enough ammunition.
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