‘You know who told me…’: Trump ‘very angry’ on alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s residence

US President Doland Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Ukrainian drones had tried to attack one of his homes but the Ukraine has denied this claim. Trump shared this while talking to reporters before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He said Putin mentioned the incident during a phone call earlier that day. “You know who told me about it? President Putin, early in the morning, he said he was attacked. It’s no good. I’m very angry,” Trump said while speaking about the alleged drone attack. At the same time, he admitted that the claim might not be true and said it was “possible” that no such attack had taken place.

“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,” Trump added.

Russia claims drone attack on Putin’s residence 

Doland Trump made these remarks after Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, west of Moscow. Lavrov said the alleged attack happened late on December 28 and 29. According to him, Ukraine launched 91 long-range drones, but all of them were stopped by Russian air defence systems.

“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.

Ukraine strongly rejected the accusation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed it as false, saying, “Another round of lies from the Russian Federation,” while speaking to reporters.

TRUMP TALKS TO PUTIN TWICE IN ONE DAY

Trump spoke to Putin for the second time in 24 hours. This came just a day after Trump held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Even with the ongoing tensions, Trump said his conversation with Putin went well. “It was a very productive talk,” Trump said. “I mean, we have a few very thorny issues, as you can imagine.”

He said peace could be possible if these difficult issues are sorted out. “We have a couple of issues that we’re going to get resolved, hopefully, and if we get them resolved, you can have peace,” Trump added.

If the reported drone attack is proven true, it would mean a fresh rise in tensions between Russia and Ukraine at a time when peace talks are already delicate.

On Sunday, Trump met Zelenskyy in Florida and said both sides were moving closer to a deal to end the war. He said they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close,” but noted that some tough territorial questions were still unresolved.

Meanwhile, Putin took a firm stand on Monday, telling Russian forces to continue their push to take full control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. The Kremlin also repeated its demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the remaining parts of the eastern Donbas region still under Kyiv’s control.