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Kyiv hit back at claim that Putin’s Valdai residence was targeted by 91 drones
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President Donald Trump said that he was “very angry” after Putin claimed that Ukraine tried to attack the Russian president’s residence in northern Russia.
“I don’t like it. It’s not good,” Trump told reporters when asked if he was worried the allegation could affect his efforts to broker peace.
“I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it. It’s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It’s one thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that,” he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphatically denied the claims, saying it was a deliberate lie to hamper progress in peace talks with Donald Trump.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Kyiv of launching 91 drones at the Russian president’s Valdai residence in the Novgorod region and said Moscow would change its negotiating position as a result.
But Zelensky hit back immediately after the claim was published, saying it was a “lie”.
Meanwhile, cracks were beginning to show in Trump’s drive to end the war in Ukraine as Zelensky revealed he had been offered just 15 years of security guarantees from the US.
Russia has signalled a more hardline approach towards ending its war with Ukraine.
This comes as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine had tried to attack Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region west of Moscow earlier this week with 91 long-range drones, which were all destroyed by Russian air defences.
No one was injured and there was no damage, he said in comments reported by Russian media.
“Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” Lavrov said in a statement, describing the attack as “state terrorism” and adding that targets had already been selected for retaliatory strikes by Russia’s armed forces.
Reuters could not independently verify Lavrov’s comments. Neither Lavrov nor any other Russian officials offered any evidence for the attack assertions. It was not clear where Putin was at the time.
Lavrov said the attack took place during negotiations about a possible peace deal, and said Russia would review its negotiating stance but not quit the negotiations.
Denying Ukraine had planned such an attack, Zelensky accused Russia of preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv.”It is clear that we had a meeting with Trump yesterday, and it is clear that for the Russians, if there is no scandal between us and America, and we are making progress.
For them it is a failure, because they do not want to end this war,” Zelensky told reporters via WhatsApp.
He added: “I am sure they are simply preparing the ground for strikes, probably on the capital, probably on government buildings.”
Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of trying to attack president Vladimir Putin’s residence and vowed retaliation, providing no evidence for a claim Kyiv dismissed as baseless and aimed at derailing arduous peace talks.
The angry exchanges between the warring neighbours on Monday including a statement by Russia that it was reviewing its stance in negotiations in response to the attack dealt a new blow to prospects for peace in Ukraine.
US president Donald Trump said Putin had told him about the alleged attack in a phone call on Monday morning, which had angered him.
Still, Trump repeated his belief that a peace deal may be near.”It’s one thing to be offensive,” Trump told reporters.
“It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.”
On Sunday, Trump met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Florida and the US president said they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war, although “thorny” territorial issues remained.
On Monday, Putin struck a defiant tone, telling his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. The Kremlin repeated demands for Kyiv to pull its forces out of the last part of the Donbas area that they still hold in eastern Ukraine.
Putin told Trump in Monday’s phone call that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, was reviewing its stance following the reported drone attack, an aide said. Zelensky dismissed Russia’s allegation as “a complete fabrication” and the Kremlin’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war.
After the call with Putin, Trump told reporters outside his home in Palm Beach, Florida, that he had no further information about the alleged attack.
“I don’t like it, it’s not good,” Trump said. Asked if US intelligence agencies had evidence of such an attack, Trump said: “We’ll find out.”
President Vladimir Putin has formally enacted changes granting Russia the unilateral right to ignore judgments issued by foreign and international courts in criminal cases.
This controversial decision comes as Ukrainian and European nations continue their concerted efforts to impose penalties on Moscow for its ongoing actions in Ukraine.
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Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine looked fragile on Monday as Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at Russian “lies” about a drone attack on one of Vladimir Putin’s residences, accusing the latter of trying to undermine diplomatic efforts.
Moscow claimed that Kyiv carried out a massive assault on the presidential residence in Novgorod and said their negotiating position would be “revised” as a result.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov alleged that Ukraine had launched 91 long-range drones at the forest retreat on Lake Valdai overnight, but all had been shot down with no damage reported.
Mr Zelensky dismissed the claim as “lies” that he said were cynically intended to “undermine diplomacy and justify dragging out the war”.
The Independent’s James C. Reynolds has this story:
Russia will respond to what it said was an attempted Ukrainian attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence, TASS state news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Tuesday.
“There will be a response for this,” TASS cited Zakharova as telling Russia’s public broadcaster.
Moscow did not provide evidence to support its assertions that Ukraine tried to attack Putin’s residence and Kyiv dismissed Russia’s claims as baseless and designed to undermine peace negotiations.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview published late on Monday, said the West must understand that Russia holds the strategic initiative in Ukraine as discussions move forward on a possible settlement.
Lavrov told RIA news agency that the West had to come to terms with the territorial realities on the ground nearly four years after the launch of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which it describes as a “Special Military Operation”.
He said the United States now supported the notion, which had become clear to all, that with the expiry of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s mandate, a new election was needed.
Lavrov also again stressed that a settlement required an end to any notion of a NATO presence in Ukraine and that the country had to adopt a neutral, non-aligned status.
Italy’s cabinet on Monday approved a decree to keep military aid flowing to Ukraine through 2026, sealing a coalition compromise after weeks of debate.
The new decree is similar to bills approved in the past three years, stating that the government will transfer military vehicles, materials and equipment to Ukraine.
Priority will be given to logistical and medical items for civilian use, and for equipment needed to defend against missile, drone and cyber attacks.
Trump still can’t stop talking about 2020 when Zelensky is in the room. John Bowden ponders: Will that make dragging Putin to the table impossible?
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