Ukrainian officials on Tuesday rushed to prevent diplomatic fallout from a Russian allegation that Kiev’s long-range drone targeted Vladimir Putin’s residence, calling it a lie designed to damage talks with the United States.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Monday that 91 Ukrainian drones had targeted the president’s residence at Lake Valdai in the Novgorod region, but provided no evidence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in a voice note on WhatsApp on Tuesday that “the alleged attacks on Putin’s Valdai residence are fake – no one attacked”.
He said Putin’s accusation may have been an attempt to persuade Washington to lift sanctions on Russia, but in his view it was “linked to the fact that over the course of a month there were quite successful conversations and positive meetings between our teams, culminating in our meeting at the residence of US President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida”.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s negotiating group had discussed details of the alleged attack with the US. “Of course, our partners, thanks to their technical capabilities, could always verify that it was a fake,” he said.
Efforts to counter Russia’s claims escalated after Trump took them at face value, telling reporters on Monday that he had heard directly from Putin about the alleged attack and that he was “very angry.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the UAE Foreign Ministry also expressed solidarity with Russia, with the UAE calling it a “reprehensible attack”.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha said Tuesday that Kiev was “disappointed” by the three countries’ statements, but did not mention Trump’s comments.
“Almost a day has passed and Russia still has not provided any credible evidence on its allegations of Ukraine’s alleged ‘attack on Putin’s residence,'” he said. “And they won’t do it. Because there is no such thing. There was no such attack.”
A Ukrainian official with knowledge of the negotiation process said the accusation was meant to justify Russia’s continued strike campaign despite the start of peace talks and to “push the Americans into negative sentiments” toward Zelensky.
The attack could not be independently confirmed. Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that 18 drones had been destroyed in the area, but did not mention the attack on the Valdai residence until after Lavrov’s accusation.
Ukrainian forces regularly launch long-range drone strikes into Russia’s western regions, but in recent months they have focused almost exclusively on attacking energy infrastructure, including refineries and oil terminals.
The allegation came shortly after a meeting on Sunday between Trump and Zelensky that sought to secure a common negotiating position to end the war in Ukraine.
Although the meeting produced no concrete results, both sides said they had achieved significant progress, with Zelensky saying that security guarantees between Ukraine and the US were “100 percent ready”.
On Tuesday, Zelensky told reporters that he and his team were discussing the possibility of a US military presence in Ukraine with Trump and his negotiators.
Zelensky said, “Obviously, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States. These are American soldiers, and therefore it is America that makes such decisions.” “We are discussing this with President Trump and representatives of the ‘coalition of the willing.’
Trump had previously said publicly that no US troops would be deployed to Ukraine under the peace agreement. The White House did not immediately comment on Zelensky’s claim.
Alyona Getmanchuk, head of Ukraine’s mission to NATO, said Russia’s goal may be to “stir up a feud” between Trump and Zelensky with the allegation.
He believes Moscow also wants to pressure the US to “rethink the entire architecture of the negotiations”, adding: “From the very beginning, Putin has made it clear that he would prefer to reach an agreement directly with the US president, without real input from Ukraine or European partners.”
In the wake of the allegations, Putin told Trump that Moscow would “reconsider its position” on talks with Kiev, according to his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov. Russia said the alleged attack “will not go unanswered”.
Zelensky said he expected Russian rhetoric to prepare the ground for new attacks on government buildings. In September, Moscow launched a massive drone and missile attack on the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kiev.
“As for their previous attacks on our government quarters – on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, on Bankova Street, on the territory – listen, they attack our entire territory every day,” Zelensky told reporters.
He said Ukrainian officials and national security advisers from the so-called Coalition of the Interested countries would meet on or around January 3 to discuss the peace plan, with a “leaders meeting” planned for January 6 in France. It was not immediately clear whether Trump would attend.
The Ukrainian president said he is “ready for a meeting of any format” with Putin if it means an opportunity for Russia to end the war.
Zelensky reiterated his invitation to Trump to visit Ukraine – a trip that would likely require an agreement with Putin not to conduct airstrikes.
“This would indicate that we actually have grounds to be confident about a ceasefire,” he said.
Additional reporting by Laura Dubois and Polina Ivanova
