Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump that one of his official residences was attacked in Kiev, but Ukraine almost immediately denied the claim.
The content of the call read out by Russia stated that 73-year-old Putin told 79-year-old Trump that Ukraine used drones to “launch a terrorist attack” targeting the Russian president’s official residence. The Kremlin further said Trump was “shocked, even angry” by the news.
“[Trump] Said he simply could not imagine such crazy behavior. And, as mentioned before, this will undoubtedly affect the way the United States cooperates with Zelensky, and as Trump himself said, thank God this administration has not yet given Zelensky a ‘tomahawk,'” the Kremlin source said.
Putin and Trump had their second phone call on the final day, with Trump calling it “a very good conversation” but adding that they still had “some very tough questions.”
Putin claims Ukraine initiated
After the call, Trump told reporters that he was “very angry” when Putin told him about the alleged attack. Trump said it was one thing to be “offensive” but another to “attack his house.”
Asked whether U.S. intelligence had confirmed the attack had indeed taken place, Trump said it was “possible” that it did not happen as Putin claimed.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov claimed that Russia destroyed a drone targeting the Russian presidential palace in the Novgorod region, but he did not provide evidence to prove this claim. The Novgorod Residence is not the main official residence of the Russian President and is mainly used as a retreat.
Ukraine has denied the reported attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, said Russia had made up its story about undermining its talks with the United States.
Zelensky met with Trump on Sunday, but the meeting produced little for Ukraine. / Joe Reddell/Getty Images
“Another round of lies from the Russian Federation,” Zelensky told reporters on WhatsApp.
“Obviously, we had a meeting with Trump yesterday, and it’s clear that for the Russians, if there is no scandal between us and the United States and we are making progress, then for them it is a failure because they don’t want to end this war,” Zelensky said.
The call between Putin and Trump took place before Trump met with Zelensky at the Mar-a-Lago club on Sunday. The United States and Ukraine have been trying to hammer out a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – a war that Trump said repeatedly during his 2024 presidential campaign that he would end within 24 hours of taking office.
Although U.S. and Ukrainian officials had been optimistic about the meeting ahead of the meeting, it did not produce much beyond a promise to meet again next month.
