US President Donald Trump fumed on Monday after reportedly being informed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that a swarm of Ukrainian drones attacked one of his residences. Trump, speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the call took place early in the morning.
"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 of the alleged drone strike. At the same time, he acknowledged that the claim might be false, adding it was "possible" the attack did not occur. " 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," he added.
Russia alleges drone attack, Ukraine denies
As per a report by India Today, Trump said this after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of attempting to hit Putin's residence in the Novgorod region, west of Moscow, with a swarm of long-range drones late on December 28 and 29. He also said that 91 drones were launched but were all intercepted by air defences.
Ukraine immediately rejected the statement. “Another round of lies from the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters.
Trump meets with both leaders
Reportedly, Trump held two phone calls in a span of 24 hours, with the second call taking place after his interaction with Zelenskyy in the state of Florida on Sunday. Ignoring the controversy, the businessman-turned-politician called the call with the Russian president "very productive.” “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 said.
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During his encounter with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said that the US and Ukraine were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close,” to a deal that would bring an end to the war, but that there were still some “thorny” territorial concerns. However, Putin was uncompromising, urging his military to carry on their campaign to secure the entire Ukrainian territory of the Zaporizhzhia region.
