Trump criticizes Ukraine's alleged attack on Putin's residence

(AFP) President Donald Trump on Monday criticized an alleged drone strike by Ukraine against a residence of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which Kiev denies, as inappropriate amid talks to end the war.

"You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it, early in the morning; he said he was attacked. It's not good," Trump told reporters at his residence at Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, while hosting the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that he was "very angry about it."

"It´s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It's one thing to be offensive because they are offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that," the president said.

Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking a residence of Putin

Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of launching drones at a residence of President Vladimir Putin and announced it would "review" its stance in negotiations to end the war in the wake of the attack.

In a statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, claimed that Ukraine launched 91 drones overnight against the "official residence" of the Russian autocrat in the Novgorod region. He assured, however, that all the aircraft were shot down by air defense.

This attack, he continued, "was carried out in the midst of intense negotiations between Russia and the United States on the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict and will not go unanswered."

The Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, immediately denounced it as a "lie" by Moscow which, he said, seeks to pave the way for carrying out further attacks against Kiev and "undermine" U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the conflict triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion.

"Still another lie from the Russian Federation," the Ukrainian leader denounced during a virtual exchange with journalists. "They (Russia) don't want the war to end," he claimed.

These accusations sow doubts about the future of diplomatic negotiations that have been underway since November to try to end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Trump talks with Putin

In parallel, Putin held a telephone conversation with President Trump on Monday to exchange views on the progress of the negotiations, following Sunday's meeting in Florida between Trump and Zelensky. The conversation was "positive," the White House said.

However, according to the Kremlin diplomatic advisor, Yuri Ushakov, Putin told his U.S. counterpart that Russia's position on "certain agreements reached at the previous stage" and on the proposed solutions would be "re-examined" after the "terrorist attack" from Kiev.