Russia Claims Ukraine Attacked Putin's Residence

Kremlin officials claimed that Ukraine attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence with more than 90 drones, all of which were shot down, during an attack that carried into the early hours of Monday (December 29) morning, the New York Post reports.

The claims were made by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavov, who claimed that the Kremlin would now review its negotiation position to potentially end its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied the alleged attacks as a "complete fabrication" made as a justification for retaliation strikes following his meeting with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday (December 28).

"Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump's team," Zelenskyy wrote on his X account. "We keep working together to bring peace closer. This alleged "residence strike" story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies. Furthermore, the Russians have already targeted Kyiv in the past, including the Cabinet of Ministers building. Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us. It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace."

Zelenskyy had previously revealed that the United States is currently offering a 15-year security guarantee as part of a plan to end Russia's yearslong invasion following his meeting with Trump on Sunday and prior to reports of alleged strikes targeting Putin's residence on Monday. The Ukrainian president answered questions on WhatsApp regarding his meeting at Trump's resort and said he told the president that he'd like for the guarantee to be extended to up to 50 years.

“I raised this issue with the president. I told him that our war is still going on, and it has been almost 15 years,” Zelensky said. “Therefore, we would really like the guarantees to be longer. I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years. And that would then be a historic decision by President Trump.”

Zelenskyy claimed that Trump said he would "think about" the request during their meeting.

“I believe that the presence of international troops is a real security guarantee, it is a strengthening of the security guarantees that our partners are already offering us,” he added.

Trump claimed "we have the makings of a deal" following his meeting with Zelenskyy on Sunday, but warned "millions" more people will be killed in the ongoing invasion by Russia if one isn't reached soon.

“I do believe that we have the makings of a deal. It’s good for Ukraine, good for everybody. It’s very important,” Trump told reporters while standing next to Zelenskyy outside the entrance for his resort's main dining room via the New York Post.

“There’s nothing more important,’’ he claimed. “I solved eight wars, and this is the most difficult one.”

“Millions of additional people will be killed, millions, and no one wants that,’’ Trump added.

The meeting was believed to be a sign of significant progress in negotiations on a peace deal, with Trump having previously said he'd only meet with Zelenskyy if he felt an agreement was close to being reached. The Ukrainian president shared an update on his X account Friday (December 26) morning following a briefing from his top negotiator Rustem Umerov.

"Rustem Umerov reported on his latest contacts with the American side. We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the New Year. Glory to Ukraine!" Zelenskyy wrote.

Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, had previously met with top negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine one weekend prior after several meetings during the past two months. A senior U.S. official described the ongoing negotiations between Umerov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev as "positive and constructive" last week.

"We've gone as far as possible with the Russians and the Ukrainians. We've made more progress in the last two weeks than the last year. We want to push the ball into the goal. We're heading in the right direction," the U.S. official added.