Peace hopes dented as Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Putin residence |
MOSCOW/KYIV – Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northern Russia, although it provided no evidence to back up an assertion that Kyiv dismissed as baseless and designed to undermine peace negotiations.
The angry exchanges – 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.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida and said they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war, although “thorny” territorial issues remained.
Putin also struck a defiant tone on Monday, telling his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, and 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 by phone that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, was reviewing its stance following the reported drone attack, an aide said.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine had tried to attack Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region west of Moscow on December 28-29 with 91 long-range drones, which were all destroyed by Russian air defenses. No one was injured, and there was no damage, he said in comments reported by Russian media.
“Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” the veteran foreign minister said, describing the attack as “state terrorism” and........