Russia accuses NATO of exploiting Ukraine conflict to expand, claims its forces now advancing ‘along entire front’

With Agencies

Top Russian security official and former President Dmitry Medvedev responded, mocked Trump’s warning in a post on the social media platform X, writing: “Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!”

The Russian Russian Defence Minister, Andrei Belousov, has revealed how NATO is exploiting the Ukraine conflict to expand its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic.

Belousov, however, said that for that reason Russian forces were now advancing “along the entire front” in Ukraine.

This was as the United States and Russian Federation clashed publicly over the escalating war in Ukraine, after US President Donald Trump warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” and accused Moscow of pushing the conflict toward dangerous new levels.

The remarks came amidst reports that Russia has concentrated 50,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern Sumy region and intensified drone and missile attacks across Ukrainian territory.

The conflict, now in its third year, has become the deadliest war in Europe since the Second World War.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned Putin against escalating the war and suggested that Russia would already be facing severe consequences if not for his previous actions as US president.

“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realise 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.

In response, top Russian security official and former President Dmitry Medvedev mocked Trump’s warning in a post on the social media platform X, writing: “Regarding Trump’s words about Putin ‘playing with fire’ and ‘really bad things’ happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!

Trump’s former national security adviser and current envoy, Keith Kellogg, condemned Medvedev’s remarks, calling them “reckless”.

“Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment… and unfitting of a world power,” Kellogg posted on X.

Despite the heated rhetoric, diplomatic efforts appear to be continuing behind the scenes. After a reported two-hour phone call with Trump on 19 May, President Putin said that Moscow had agreed to work on a memorandum with Ukraine that would outline the framework for a potential peace agreement, including a timeline for a ceasefire.

Kellogg confirmed that Washington is awaiting Russia’s draft of the proposed memorandum. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added that a new round of peace talks would be announced soon.

Meanwhile, the conflict on the ground is worsening. Russia claims to have downed 296 Ukrainian drones across 13 regions in a single night, while Ukraine reported that Russia launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles in one of its largest aerial attacks in weeks.

After Russian forces pushed Ukrainian troops out of the western part of Kursk region, they crossed the border into Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region and have taken several villages, according to reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had amassed around 50,000 troops near the Sumy border but insisted that Kyiv had “taken steps” to prevent a large-scale Russian offensive in the region.

President Putin has long argued that Russia needs a “buffer zone” along its border with Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov accused NATO of exploiting the Ukraine conflict to expand its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic, but claimed that Russian forces were now advancing “along the entire front” in Ukraine.

Putin originally ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, following eight years of conflict in the eastern Donbas region between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.