Russia accused Ukraine of striking Putinʼs residence. Zelensky says it was preparation for an attack on Ukrainian state buildings

Russia has said Ukraine attacked Putinʼs state residence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denies this.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine used drones to strike Putinʼs residence in Valdai on the night of December 29. According to him, Russia is already preparing a retaliatory strike, and the country will review its negotiating position.

At the same time, he added that Russia does not plan to completely withdraw from the negotiation process.

The Ukrainian president, in a comment to journalists, called Lavrovʼs words a lie.

"Another lie from the Russian Federation. It is clear that yesterday we had a meeting with Trump. And it is clear that for the ʼRussiansʼ, if we do not have a scandal with America, and we have progress, for them it is a failure. Because they do not want to end this war. They are able to end it only because of pressure on them [...] Now, with their statement that some of their residences were attacked, they are simply preparing the ground for striking, probably, at the capital and state buildings," he said.

• Lavrovʼs statement came the day after Zelenskyʼs meeting with US President Donald Trump. Zelensky said that at the meeting, the 20-point peace plan was 90% agreed upon, and security guarantees between the US and Ukraine were 100%.
• The next day, Zelensky clarified that he had asked Trump to provide security guarantees for 30-50 years, and the American president promised to think about it.

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