President Donald Trump on Tuesday positioned himself as a moderate voice restraining the worst impulses of the anti-Russia hawks and warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the situation could be much worse for him.

"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!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump's remarks come amid frustrations with the stalled negotiation process as Kyiv and Moscow push for irreconcilable war aims and the Russians surge across the battlefield.

The president had promised to end the war in 24 hours, but has thus far failed to achieve a meaningful end to the fighting. Meanwhile, the Russians are posting gains in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine.