Ukraine Rejects Claim of Attack On Putin Residence
(AJ) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected Russia's claim that his country carried out an attack on a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov claimed on Monday that the attack had taken place on Putin's residence in northwestern Russia's Novgorod region with 91 long-range strike drones.Lavrov said that air defence systems shot down the drones and that no one was injured.Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the strike took place on Sunday, "practically immediately after" talks held in Florida between United States President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy on negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine.Zelenskyy quickly rejected Moscow's claim and accused Russia of attempting to derail the peace talks.Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha also condemned Moscow's allegation, saying it was aimed at undermining the negotiations.In a post on X, Sybiha said the claim was intended "to create a pretext and false justification for Russia's further attacks against Ukraine, as well as to undermine and impede the peace process".Russia said it would reassess its negotiating position in light of the alleged attack, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova warning that Moscow's response "would not be diplomatic".Later on Monday, Trump said that Putin had told him during a phone call that Ukraine had attempted to attack the Russian president's residence.Speaking to reporters, Trump said Putin raised the allegation during their call.
