US President Donald Trump on Sunday told reporters that US officials have determined that Ukraine did not target a residence belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack last week, disputing Kremlin claims that Trump had initially greeted with deep concern.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week said Ukraine launched a wave of drones at Putin’s state residence in the northwestern Novgorod region that the Russian defence systems were able to defeat. Lavrov also criticised Kyiv for launching the attack at a moment of intensive negotiations to end the war.
The allegation came just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had travelled to Florida for talks with Trump on the US administration’s still-evolving 20-point plan aimed at ending the war, and Zelensky quickly denied it.
Trump said that “something happened nearby” Putin’s residence, but that American officials did not find the Russian president’s residence was targeted.
A satellite image showing Vladimir Putin’s state residence in the northwestern Novgorod region in 2023. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters
“I don’t believe that strike happened,” Trump told reporters as he travelled back to Washington on Sunday after spending two weeks at his home in Florida. “We don’t believe that happened, now that we’ve been able to check.”