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New York: Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting Vladimir Putin’s home with drones in an incendiary, an unproven claim that has Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the defensive less than 24 hours after key peace talks with US President Donald Trump.
Although Moscow provided no evidence of the alleged attack, and Zelensky vehemently denied it occurred, Trump said he was “very angry” after being told about it by Putin in a phone call – their second in two days.
President Donald Trump said he was very angry about the alleged attack after hearing about it directly from Vladimir Putin.Credit: AP
“I don’t like it, it’s not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it. Early in the morning, he said he was attacked,” Trump said.
“It’s a delicate period of time. It’s one thing to be offensive … it’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that … I was very angry about it.”
Asked by a reporter whether there was any evidence of Putin’s claims – including from US intelligence services – Trump gave the Russian leader the benefit of the doubt.
“We’ll find out. You’re saying maybe the attack didn’t take place – that’s possible too, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning it did,” Trump said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with senior military officers at the Kremlin.Credit: AP
The Kremlin issued a statement from Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, who said Putin had informed Trump that Ukraine used long-range drones to attack the president’s residence in the Novgorod region.
“The Russian side clearly stated that such reckless terrorist acts will, of course, not go unanswered and will meet with the most serious response,” Ushakov said. Trump was “literally outraged” by the information, he added.
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“He [Trump] said that he could not even imagine such irrational actions,” Ushakov said. “This will undoubtedly affect the approaches of the United States in the context of working with Zelensky, to whom the current administration, as Donald Trump himself said, did not, thankfully, give Tomahawks.”
Putin maintains a residence in Roshchino, north of St Petersburg. While Ushakovs’s statement in English implied Putin’s residence was hit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russian air defences destroyed all 91 long-range drones, thwarting the attack.
Ushakov said Russia would now revise its position on issues that it had previously agreed during talks with the US to end the war. “The Americans should treat this with understanding,” he said.
In a further incendiary statement, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who posts propaganda for the Kremlin, called Zelensky “the stinking Kiev bastard” and accused him of derailing peace efforts.
“He wants war. Well, now at least he’ll have to stay in hiding for the rest of his worthless life,” Medvedev said.
Zelensky strongly denied any such attack took place, calling it a complete fabrication and “typical Russian lies”.
“Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps,” he said. “This is one of many differences between us. It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace.”
US analysts generally saw the Kremlin’s claims as a ploy to disrupt progress made by Trump and Zelensky when they met at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday (AEDT).
The two men said they had agreed upwards of 90 per cent of a proposed peace plan, including US and European security guarantees for Ukraine, although there was still disagreement about Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, particularly the Donbas region.
Trump and Putin spoke ahead of the meeting, and again afterwards, in what is emerging as a pattern from the Kremlin to engage directly with the US president before his encounters with Zelensky.
President Donald Trump met Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.Credit: AP
Pro-Ukraine Republican congressman Don Bacon warned Trump against believing Putin’s claims. “President Trump and his team should get the facts first before assuming blame,” he posted on X. “Putin is a well-known boldface liar.”
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