Kremlin Aide Hits Back at Trump, Says He’s ‘Not Sufficiently Informed’ on Ukraine

A top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized Donald Trump, saying the U.S. president lacks a full understanding of the war in Ukraine. The comment came after Trump posted a message on Truth Social warning that Putin is “playing with fire.”

Yury Ushakov, a senior Kremlin official and former Russian ambassador to the United States, responded on Russian state television, saying, “Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation.”

Here is what you need to know

Trump made the remarks on Tuesday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. 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 to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”

The post drew immediate attention in Moscow. While Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment when asked about Trump’s statement, Ushakov spoke more directly.

Ushakov Challenges Trump’s View

Speaking to Russia-1, a state-run TV channel, Ushakov said the Kremlin closely monitors Trump’s comments but believes the US president is being misled about the conflict.

“Trump says a lot of things. Naturally, we read and monitor all of this,” Ushakov said. “But in many ways, we have come to the conclusion that Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation.”

He added that Trump appeared unaware of “the increasingly frequent massive terrorist attacks Ukraine is carrying out against peaceful Russian cities.” Ushakov claimed that Russia targets only “military infrastructure or the military-industrial complex” in its own strikes.

Background and Context

Ushakov played a key role in diplomatic talks earlier this year, representing Moscow during backchannel negotiations with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. His public remarks are seen as carefully calibrated messages from the Kremlin.

Trump has often claimed he could quickly end the war in Ukraine if re-elected, and has expressed admiration for Putin in the past. His latest post suggests growing frustration with how the Russian leader is handling the war.